#40 Joseph Morpurgo: Hammerhead

Comedy ( Multimedia ) Pleasance Court

Over-the-top multimedia gag show around Morpurgo's inflated Frankenstein production that supposedly just concluded. Excellent play on the post-show Q&A format with scripted audience participation.

Ruthless digs at the cliches of the form, from horrible questions, bombastic personalities, emotional addresses, and questions raining in from all directions.

Excellent comic timing with unpredictable twists, one more surreal than the other. Well-rehearsed help from the show crew.

Callers-in with their side stories, tangents, carried through the session. Morpurgo, the heroic auteur, slowly losing it, as the Q&A doesn't develop his way. Brilliant and uproariously funny, almost all the way through. Convulsive,uncontrollable, animalistic laughs from the packed audience.

Constant barrage of gags perhaps dilutes the climax, but a winning conclusion is nonetheless served with great gusto. Morpurgo maintains an entertaining baseline throughout, but in the end doesn't end up punching all that hard. There is budding genius and understanding here, but glimpses of something even greater as well.

See this brilliant one-man Monty Python meta-sketch for a relentless, hilarious exploration of the post-show form.