Raymond Crowe: Unusualist
Athaneum Theatre
March 27 – April 18, 2010
As one of the more physically remarkable acts in Melbourne’s Comedy Festival, Raymond Crowe gives the audience much more than run of the mill stand up comedy.
You may be familiar with his intricate hand shadow rendition of Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World — a YouTube hit with over one million hits worldwide. The video is brilliant but it’s just a starting point; this man has so much more to offer.
Crowe’s performing style has a backbone of classic and witty humour, but he’s also mischievous and original. You could call him a variety performer. A unique blend of magician, puppeteer, mime and ventriloquist, Crowe uses all his obscure talents to put together a show that is unlike any other.
Dressed to impress in tails and a top hat, Crowe performs timeless magic tricks in entirely new ways. He is a master of multiplying billiard balls, performs levitation with a dancing suit jacket, and does the ‘linking rings’ with hula-hoop sized props. An audience favourite was a postal package that, through skilled ventriloquism, appeared to contain a screaming baby.
Crowe also throws in a live short story about a man on a fishing trip. As daggy as he looks in a fishing vest and floppy hat, he still manages to win the audience over with his ability to use little more than a few props on stage, being highly skilled in the art of mime and visual comedy. It was a charming little segment that won laughs, and a few surprised faces as he made his shoe appear in a tank of water.
The show is very family friendy, attracting crowds of children, grandparents and all ages in between. There is plenty of audience participation is involved, but fear not: if you’re chosen you won’t have to speak much, as Crowe puts his ventriloquism skills to use and answers any questions himself.
Most variety acts don’t have the benefit of having a ‘greatest hit’ in their repertoire. But Crowe’s incredibly well rehearsed What a Wonderful World shadow puppet routine is truly something special to witness. It seems he hasn’t grown tired performing this piece, as it still shows every bit of grace that you would expect if seeing him perform it for the first time.
1 comment
Raymond Crowe – Unusualist: Athaneum Theatre, April 9, 2010 | Never Odd or Even says:
Mar 27, 2011
[...] in Laneway Magazine, April 2010. To see published piece, click here. This entry was posted in Comedy, Published Work, Review. Bookmark the [...]