(4 / 5)

I’m not sure why I decided to do this to myself. A huge dog lover, I cry at anything to do with animals, whether happy or sad, and I am more likely to smile and say hello to dogs on the street than their owners. So why I thought “Hey, let’s go to a show about dead dogs” I don’t know. This started off disastrous – with me absolutely sobbing… let’s get into it. 

Dog Funeral, believe it or not, is a highly comical piece of clowning theatre. It’s certainly not what you may expect when you sign up for it. There’s no real “story” as it were – there’s a vague under narrative but the essence is chaos. It firstly begins with a beautiful projection of the tale of the dog we are here to grieve, through drawings meant to look made by a child and simple captions summing up the image and the friendship of the girl and the dog. Until we learn of the dog’s death. This initial part is where I was inconsolable and I can only apologise to everyone in the audience that day. 

What then proceeds is a funeral farce like no other – dressed as something from Tim Burton, Zoe Wohlfeld comes in in her mourning weeds, taking up the stage and with immediate audience interaction. If you think you are safe from this, you are not. What transpires to be something of attention seeking of a young girl means we are all involved in her attempts for attention, her volatile ways and all with hilarious slapstick, contorted facial expressions and moments of sadness that are suddenly turned completely on their head, resulting in shock. Nothing is sacred and respected and this is where the hilarious shock factor comes from. In true adult clowning style, there are moments that feel a bit wrong or taboo and only elicit further laughter. Wohlfeld is a genius in being able to change the atmosphere and move her character from one scenario or feeling to another with a change in volume, intensity, narrative, all which flow effortlessly. Improv is also imperative and she is able to move with this easily, though the odd bit of slight corpsing takes place, this only adds to the comedy factor. 

We end on a beautiful note – after one hour of being repeatedly hit in the face with utter madness, we see real images of Wohlfeld and the past and present dogs in her life. When there’s a slight moment of wondering if this is satire on those who feel a lot for their animals, we realise that, yes it is, but she is also one of those people. It’s almost like she is reclaiming that opinion. In her ending speech as herself, she sells merch and notes that proceeds would be going to help a local dog charity. What is chaos and high clowning turns into something heartfelt and special. 

Dog Funeral is utter madness. Not for the faint hearted in more ways than one or the shy and introverted, this unique and intense show has the comical shock factor, but finishes on a beautiful note.

(4 / 5)

I think it’s safe to say that Awkward Prods have become somewhat of a favourite and clearly have a loyal cult following. Known for their comedy work, Linus Karp and Joseph Martin have brought hilarious satirical productions related to Princess Diana’s life, Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial and a take on hallmark royal Christmas rom-com movies.

This time around, however, they’ve decided to get a little closer to home. Linus Karp Was Hit With an Umbrella is, well, what it says on the tin … to some degree. A few years ago, Karp suffered an unprovoked hate-crime attack on a street in Soho in daylight. This production tells this story, with Karp and Martin’s injection of humour along the way and ends with a deep message of support for anyone who experiences such atrocious acts.

It might seem minimal, with the seriousness of the topic, but early doors, I wanted to comment on the staging. Beautiful black and white outlines of notable places in Soho and in the story decorate the background like a skyline outline. It helps set the scene but, in themselves, their artistry is exquisite. The production continues with minimal props, only those that are important, and in the quintessential style of Awkward Prods with the use of screens where images and prompts for audience participants are visible throughout.

Of course, audience participation is a must. Not as involved as previous productions, but from their seats with prompts. This is a great choice as it feels right for the focus to be on Karp and their storytelling. They change it up at one point to bring a singular person on stage but, in the context, this again feels very appropriate and needed for the focus of that moment.

Karp has a way about them that is familiar, welcoming and friendly. While a big audience, we feel included like a friend being told their story and moments of disbelief make you genuinely gasp in shock, like you would over a coffee with a friend telling you the same story. I wanted desperately to hug them and also applaud them and Martin on this experience and for the strong(er) people they have come out as from it. But they don’t forget the humour; Karp is very witty and there’s injections of this humour, quick to improvise at moments such as a phone going off or a left open door, and again, this is friendly but also genuinely funny. What’s the most impressive is that this doesn’t detract once from the seriousness of the story or undermining the overall message. It compliments it so well and is perfectly balanced.

Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella is a unique, powerful and important piece of storytelling theatre, with the right amount of comedy and allows you to leave as supportive new friends to Karp and Martin.

(4 / 5)

[To note: this is rated at a 3.5 but rounded up to 4 for wordpress]

Unless you have lived under a rock, you would have heard of the famous novel, Don Quixote. You may not know the story or read the book, but you’ll at least know the name.

I’m sadly one in the latter – I have no idea about the tale, I only know the names and that it’s a huge novel. But there’s nothing to fear with this: Don Quixote (is a very big book) is a one man show where Dik Downey tries to condense this huge tale in just 1 hour. Along the way, we learn that this is Downey’s first fringe, at the age of 63 and the comparison between him and the character of the delusional old knight is meant to be one of the same.

Through elaborate costuming, a circle of sand and multiple puppets and great prop concepts, we rush through this tale but with all the emphasis and gusto of a fully fledged production. Even if this is a whistle stop tour, Downey pours his heart and soul into it, engaging the audience, going off piste with funny anecdotes or diversions from the story to make it more relatable.

Puppets are used throughout, with, a moment of 3 puppets at once! I’m a huge puppet fan and the constructions of these in themselves are fantastic, ranging from life-size donkey heads to tiny Punch and Judy style hand puppets. The range of these give real levels to the production, alongside a clever magnetic costuming. Add in some slapstick noises, some traditional comedy moments and a dash of audience interaction and the comedy meets stylised art is complete.

What brought it down slightly were that there were just some moments that didn’t quite hit with the audience. Moments that were intended to provoke laughter sometimes didn’t hit the mark and lead with a little silence. Sometimes it felt that the balance of seriousness on talking about his trajectory in the industry and the comedy just didn’t quite fit together and may have been lost to some on its intention.

Don Quixote (is a very big book) has all the promise of something both wonderfully funny and artistic. The investment in the costuming, props and approach to the narrative are all brilliant, it just needed a slight bit of honing to really reach the audience on all levels.

Elf Lyons has got to be one of my favourite artists. She’s one of those artists that you want to see everything they do and scramble to be able to. When I knew she was doing another show, I had to run to get on the press list for this.

Previously, Elf has produced shows, mostly with an animal inspiration to them: think horses, birds, and yet all with something underlying and personal about them. Whether it be on her favourite films or something a little deeper. However, The Women On The Edge is the most personal and vulnerable to date. Based on her failed engagement, Elf using old Hollywood movies, inspiration of one of her favourite films and tales, Apollo 13 and the impact of toxic males while dating in your 30’s to bring this production about picking oneself up and getting through the hardest times.

Elf in herself is a tour de force. She is unlike any performer you have seen, combining clowning, comedy and something quite meta about being an artist. She isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade, particularly when it comes to calling out men or the closed minded people in press and this confidence in itself is inspirational. She has this amazing ability to move from character to character, sometimes even with the simplest of comedy but also with something sometimes darker and sometimes controversial. She cleverly manages to seamlessly flit between these and therefore the comedy is constant, with impeccible timing to let yoy digest before the next laugh.

It makes it all the more surprising when we get to the real intense, vulnerable parts. She bares her soul, supported with verbatim recordings by loved ones, where we get the sense of the real impact this life changing event had on her. Of course, we begin this, knowing she is a comedian, and thinking that this is likely to be a very funny and unserious view on this event. But she doesn’t let us get too settled in this. And by the end, she delivers a rousing speech of self love, of getting through the hard times, and speaking to child Elf to let them know they are loved and wanted. For anyone who has really struggled with anything touching upon feeling worthless, this hits really hard and you unexpectedly end in tears and in a place you really weren’t expecting from a trained clown.

Elf Lyons Is The Woman On The Edge is a fantastic performance, where her soul is bared for all of us to see, to give you that support that you weren’t expecting if you’ve ever hit rock bottom and along the way, somehow, making you constantly laugh.