Did that really just happen? That’s the question that the audience were asking themselves as they left Not the Adventures of Moleman last night. With the title not giving much away and the Fringe guide describing it as ‘something like comedy jazz’, there’s little indication of what to expect from the show, but even now it’s not exactly clear what went on. All I know is I have not laughed so hard and so continuously for a long time.
The really mysterious part of this reflection is that the jokes were just not funny. The random combination of meaningless sketches was bizarre and the humour was very basic, relying on obvious and badly executed punchlines. In spite of all of this, we kept laughing. In fact, at one point the show had to stop so the guy in the front row could catch his breath. It was the second time he’d been!
If taken out of the context of the stuffy downstairs venue at the City Café at 1am, with an eager and inebriated audience all equally dumbfounded by the on-going performance, it might not have been that funny. However, seeing a group of people unable to contain their hysterics is pretty contagious and the two performers were so enthusiastic that it was impossible to keep a straight face.
