Pat McCaffrie: Democracy Doesn’t Work – Adelaide Fringe Review

Garden at The Producers, Wed 22 Feb. The conundrum of whether or not democracy doesn’t work is hard to tackle with so much politics going on – not that we should be talking about it so much! – a paradox not lost on Pat McCaffrie. He starts off gently enough but the crescendo is short as we are launched into a sustained program of droll, high-octane raves, focused on – of course – politics, of both politician and broad spectrum types. How much his highly strung condition should be attributed to a recent heroic endurance trial (two and a half weeks in darkest Perth) and how much would soon evaporate were it not for the pre-eminence of stupid logic in public life will never be known, for, while Perth can be avoided, stupid logic is everywhere, self-regenerating grist for his comic mill. This man knows his muttons, has done his homework and trusts himself to ramble, never (quite) losing coherence around loose themes. His rapid-fire, informed anecdotal exposition of why almost everything is fucked convinces from the first paragraph that this is no tight script learned and delivered by rote, but an intelligent stream of consciousness delivering a sample of his own effervescent and remorselessly acerbic mind state. It must be exhausting to be him, but we are the beneficiaries, as unfettered cynicism takes centre stage and The Right Wing is shredded before our eyes...closely followed by The Left. He is superb on fact abuse, hilarious in his idiosyncratic reinvention of degrees of separation theory, funny in a good way on feminism and Safe Schools, probing on the surely bizarre mindsets of old and new centre-stage pollies, and delightful in his pillorying of Q&A for oh, so many good reasons. If you love your politics and are laughing hard about it – or need to be – you will love this show. 4.5 stars Kate Battersby Democracy Doesn’t Work continues at Garden at The Producers from 8.45pm until Fri 3 Mar. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #ADLfringe