Comedy in the Dark

(Just the Tonic at the Community Project)

I’m always intrigued by these curious comedy mix ups that you get at the Fringe. And my quest for something quirky took me to this stand up session that is literally in the dark!

It was hosted by George Rigden, whose schtick consists of him being obnoxious and insulting people, which I feel didn’t really get the best out of the format. Twayna Mayne on the other hand has a rather awkward charm and deadpan delivery to her style that worked very well in our murky surroundings.

That great crowd pleaser Jonny Awsum accompanied his comedy with music. I’ve seen Mr. Awsum before and although he’s not really my cup of tea, I was genuinely impressed with his impeccable guitar playing in the pitch black. And one of his songs “Sexy Noises”, where he has the male and female audience grunting and whooping respectively actually works better with the whole absurdity of this dark situation.

Our final act was Patrick Monahan, a man who has a great voice for this shadowy scenario, as it has a real crinkly quality to it. He also got the most mileage out of our rather dim surroundings, what with trying to scare mild mannered Australians that wee haggis’ were lurking round the room and were out to get them.

So I had a lot of fun, and if you have a taste for the offbeat, definitely check it out.

Markus Helbig.