Starman: A One-Man Show Of Clowning, Jokes and Juggling at The Garden Of Unearthly Delights – Adelaide Fringe Review

The Garden Of Unearthly Delights – Le Cascadeur, Sun 14 Feb Performer Ken Fanning yells from backstage as the house lights go down, “Do you all know Cirque du Soleil? Well this is going to be nothing like that!” A cardboard star on a broom then peaks through the curtain and the deliberately tacky one-man circus comedy begins. Fanning presented one hour of clowning, jokes, juggling and aerial rope tricks, but at tonight’s performance it did take a considerable amount of the show to get the audience on board, which I believe was due to it being hard to tell in the beginning if it was actually deliberately tumultuous or just an unorganised mess. This was especially evident during his juggling attempts, grumbling about the air conditioning in the venue and arguments with the sound person. There were moments that worked really well, such as the aerial rope comedy skit, which provided some skillful tricks and playful audience participation. His crying clown skit was also clever and would work well as a short stand-alone show. There was lots of other bumbling around and silliness, but it often fell flat. Ken Fanning has the elements there to put together a good show, but this one would benefit from some editing and further direction. Bobby Goudie Starman continues at The Garden Of Unearthly Delights – Le Cascadeur from 6pm until Sun 13 Mar. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.