Nathan Cassidy’s Fantasica had an interesting premise. The material that Cassidy has created for this year’s show is based around a lie that he told about one of his classmates in school. This rumour gained sway in the school and ruined the lad’s reputation for the next 25 years. Now Cassidy is making up for the hardship that he caused, by performing a set entirely on the dangers of believing rumours. Some of the material here has strength. The claim Cassidy was second in line to be a member of Take That, losing out to Jason Orange, is executed excellently. Better than this is the comedian’s energy. Cassidy jumps around the stage combining his actions perfectly with his comedy. Unfortunately, energy and some good material are not enough to stop the performer from becoming flustered by the minuscule size of his audience. In general, the humour remains in safe territory throughout; the only time that this wasn’t true was a poor piece of improv on the riots. Some of the material was obscure and dated enough to go over the entire audience’s head. Finally, the big finish promised by Cassidy in his marketing was shocking but neither impressive nor funny.You may hear the rumour that this show was amazing. If Cassidy’s show teaches us anything it’s not to believe it.
