2010 Edinburgh Fringe
Greg Davies review
STOP! Whatever you are doing at 9.45 tonight, cancel it. In fact, don't just cancel it, burn the tickets in an act of defiance, and see Greg Davies instead. You must.
Right, now I assume you have done this, and are clutching your ticket in hand, I'll go on...
Quite simply, this is one of the most joyous hours of stand-up I have seen in a very long time; 'free of consequence and devoid of meaning', Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog is a collection of tales relating to Davies' life, from the age of 3 to his current 42 years. Interspersed with readings from his own Pithy Book of Tales, Davies takes us through a series of bizarre happenings and ludicrous moments he has reflected on, in his search to discover whether firing cheese flavoured maize snacks at a Spanish hound (Dog is Spanish, accent ranges through Mexican into French) is the most inane thing he has done. Thankfully for us, it isn't.
Accompanied by a blackboard and easel, Davies' talks us through various moments in his life, handily broken into relevant, age related chunks. And just to make extra certain we are sure of how the show works, he sits a graph in a corner, demonstrating the amount of insight that will be garnered, relative to the passage of time - take note to avoid disappointment.
Perhaps the key moments in the show are brought about by his unhappiest time - ages 21 - 33, the teaching years. Reminiscing about his time as a drama teacher, it is fortuitous that he can now laugh at a period of time he tells us he bitterly hated - and his own reaction to the stories, surpressing giggles at the fact that he knows what is coming next, or still enjoying the punchline is evident of this.
However shouty, animated or enthusiastic he becomes over the course of the hour, he does it with such charisma, warmth and hilarity that you can't fail to be charmed by him. The Sunday night audience were responsive and he seemed to bounce off this, becoming ever more engaged with what he was talking about. It's just about as perfect a Fringe show as you could ask for, with one of the most giving performers out there.
All that and I didn't mention 'fat Rik Mayall' or his height once. Oh. Ignore this last bit. Just see it.
Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog listing