![]() It’s not just the four-episode arc that takes a new approach, it’s the small-scale pieces that make them up, too. The best part of these is that like any good twist, the flipped punchlines would still work even if the setup played out normally. Some of Acaster’s best jokes come from a “Jeopardy!”-style inversion, putting the answer before the question. But those are the outliers of a tightly controlled collection built on the kind of laughs that come from catching an audience off-guard rather than guiding them right up to a punchline. A riff on “The Wire” and an extended stretch of “Represent” about him being on a jury are a few cases of diminishing returns the longer they go on. Like nearly all sketch shows, there are some hits and misses. It’s his stomping/stylophone/praying mantis/geometric drawing methods that make fuel for the journey. This isn’t an enterprise that happens just because someone’s got four hours of wacky observations to share. The commitment it takes for something like “Kettering Town” - trust us, you’ll remember it when you see it - is the kind of curveball that makes a four-episode investment worth it. He holds back a handful of fiery rants and bigger emotional swells for times when these specials need a little extra ounce of momentum. You can’t hold the stage without a very specific kind of physicality, one that Acaster saves for very special occasions. Acaster has emerged from the comedy lab and he is here to present the findings of his studies. This is closer to a theater piece, a solo “Oh Hello” minus the outsized characters and with an extra “u” in humor. Even the crowd work seems preordained, something that Acaster winks at. The timing of pauses, the music cues, and some basic handcrafted props are all finely calibrated. At one point, he diagrams a nonsense phrase with an audience member like he’s in a funny Noam Chomsky lecture.Īside from that bit of interaction, there’s not a lot of room in “Repertoire” for spontaneity. Acaster uses the last word in “Pret a Manger” as a verb and quizzes listeners why we haven’t found an adequate term for those photo-op cutouts you can poke your head through. He delights in the jokes that deal with what English doesn’t have the capacity to express and the weird ways that repurposing certain phrases can be a joke unto themselves. With some of the usual goofy observations you’d find from an hourlong set, Acaster wades through some linguistic curiosities, British and otherwise. 'Girls5eva' Was Flightless on Peacock: Here's Why It Moved to NetflixĪll the Details on 'Hunger Games' Prequel 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'Ĭrowded Best Actress Race Makes Space for 'Till' and 'She Said'ĭespite the unconventional collection approach, “Repertoire” still has some of the rhythms of standup that audiences might be looking for. A Gentler 'My Father's Dragon' Doesn't Mean Cartoon Saloon Is Going Soft ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |