In the bowels of Banshee Labyrinth lurk the most unlikely of creatures, and none more terrifying nor outlandish as Richard Tyrone. When he first came crawling into the room like a five-year-old pretending to be a dog with a sack over his head, the first thing that popped into my head was the advice from South Park’s Mr McKay: “Drugs are bad, mkay.” Up until that point, it felt like the usual fringe comedian attempting to be as crazy as possible. But it’s when you realise you’re dealing with a guy on helium with a pair of scissors in hand that you know you’re trapped in a room with a madman. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to flavour country.
If you are brave enough to sit for the entire hour then you will experience an array of emotions ranging from petrified to ecstatic, and come out feeling reborn.
Tyrone’s show does exactly what it says. Or rather, he exclusively says the five special words: ‘What the f*** is this’. Even before the show started, when I bumped into him in the corridor, Tyrone refused to yield his five favourite words even for the sake of giving me directions, so until his set slot finishes you won’t be getting anything out of him other than those words.
A Mr Bean slapstick knock-off who has spent way too much time on 4chan, Richard Tyrone’s show is like an acid trip with Jim Carrey. The night comprises of Tyrone’s repetitive five words in conjunction with his insane slideshow of images too outlandish to describe. All of this he does with a flimsical and energetic rhythm as he prances around the room in only a suit jacket, socks and his underwear. One member of the audience will wear gloves for the entire evening. Another will have the pleasure of sumo wrestling Tyrone on stage. Just sit tight and pray you don’t go insane.
I don’t know if there’s some kind of subliminal message in there telling me to give him four stars, but Tyrone has somehow earned it. He is messed up enough to be original but not innovative. That said, he is hilarious in his own bizarre way. This show is definitely not for everyone however, especially if you are over forty. Some members made their escape while they could; others were not so lucky. But if you are brave enough to sit for the entire hour then you will experience an array of emotions ranging from petrified to ecstatic, and come out feeling reborn.
