Wayne Brady: ‘Brady AF’ And Funny As Hell ~ Adelaide Cabaret Festival Review

[USA – ADELAIDE PREMIERE] Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, Wed 20 Jun. Actor, songwriter, dancer, singer, five-time Emmy winner and Grammy nominee, star of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Hamilton, Wayne Brady returns for his fourth tour of Australia with this no-holds barred evening of fun and just making shit up from suggestions given by tonight’s packed theatre audience. Once the crowd is impressively warmed up by Adelaide’s own hilarious comedian/nurse/mum/human Georgie Carroll (Have You Been Paying Attention?), Brady’s partner-in-crime and improvised silliness, Jonathan Magnum, takes random word suggestions from the audience, which Brady’s daughter wrote on a large easel: these included frigget, eggplant, gestation, juxtaposition, ambivalent and possibly a made up word from a very excited 11-year-old boy – fragilantic! A career was selected from the crowd before the man of the hour enters the scene to resounding applause! His improvised rap as an Aged Care Policy Writer using every word from the board had the crowd in fits of laughter. The man didn’t miss a beat; proving why he wears the ‘King Of Improv’ crown! Each ‘scene’ was different from the one before, making it difficult to choose a favourite. The boys, aided by their on-stage musical director behind the keyboards, acted out a race track security guards dream of being a race car driver, while two volunteers who were handed microphones to voice the sound effects for them acting out a car salesperson’s bad sale scene. Five more very willing participants were human props for a sketch that included bio diversity and margaritas (two random words chosen from an audience member’s initials). A game called New Choice saw a Raiders Of The Lost Ark genre action adventure with the first line chosen by a member of the house – “I didn’t want to go to the ballet”, followed by a couple ‘in love’ becoming the next on-stage ‘skit’ focus and were asked all kinds of questions about their loves and lives together, creating the basis for a re-enactment of their meeting and relationship in a funk music-style of a Broadway musical. A subway sandwich artist was interviewed by Magnum, while Brady hilariously interpreted the interview in sign language. And right at the end, songs from the beautiful voice of Wayne linked back to the early audience members’ suggested song titles, which included Plastic Surgery Blues, Adelaide After 10pm (and he picked it to a tee), Sober Revolution, Anal Sex On The Beach and lastly, Asking For A Friend – Will You Be My Sperm Donor? I am so glad I didn’t wear mascara tonight; tears of laughter rolled down my aching cheeks! Such a witty, side-splitting and brilliant on-the-run show, please Mr Brady – a fifth tour would be make my funny bones twitch with glee and just couldn’t happen soon enough for my liking! Wayne Brady is a damn hoot. Together with Jonathan Magnum, the laughter and the possibilities are boundless. More please! 5 stars Janine Spearpoint #AdCabFest #AdelaideFesCent adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au