I’d Like a Nicer Planet Please

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2006
I’d Like a Nicer Planet Please
Duff
11 October 2006
Bar Open

Duff declares I’d Like A Nicer Planet Please and proceeds with the standard routine about the evils of capitalism and the evils of any alternative - all oddly combined with prop gags, mime and object puppetry.

There has been much experimentation with form in this Fringe, but none as unique as Duff’s Confectionary Theatre. Object puppetry meets a Seven 11 in Expulsion of Adam and Eve. It’s a tray full of lollies – with the toffee apple of good and evil and God being represented by a pair of lolly teeth. To balance the food groups an apple-based and a potato-based story soon follow. Don’t get me wrong – this is bad theatre, but it is unique.

Duff is rightly angry at the state of the world’s politics. He opening is relevant, with the first Korean nuclear test joke I’ve heard this festival, but the rest of his material jumps from idea to idea, with no consistent (or coherent) theme.

Improvisation is a vital part of a stand up, but needs to be balanced with structure. Duff has some great one-liners - the Big Picture that politicians talk about is really just a 33 inch plasma screen – but their strength is diluted by his sometimes irrelevant improv. His mad rush at the end to include material meant that the material suffered. The final impressions are good; much better than the long improv about fucking a skank at confest. Balance and structure develop as a show runs, but rehearsal also helps.

Duff is appealing and unique, but the show needs a lot of work to be a polished act. See it if you like hanging out at Bar Open and supporting local comedy.

PS- just a quick note to Duff. I am an active supporter of the Coke boycott, but the brand of water you drank, and referred to, is the Coke owned brand of water, so grab another brand or rip the label off.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.