Peoples Republic of South Devon

://Low Profile, Dan and Selina, A clown and an unfunny comedian… (review)

March 11th, 2008

posted by Neil
- Rhubarb, Cornwall Street, Plymouth, March 7, 2008

Images of Peter Duncan (or someone of that era) learning to parachute, Blue Peter imparting its particular mantra: “One, Two, Three, Check Parachute.” It’s a phrase that repeated itself around my child mind, associated with key actions that involve holding arms crossed and bracing knees and bored, apathetic, sepia-faced and overly made up women going through the motions indicating emergency exits and the correct method to place a breathing mask over your mouth and nose. “If finding oneself on fire you should calmly pat yourself down and stop, drop and roll.” These visual memories of childhood holidays, public information films and early evening TV, crowd my brain as I watch Rachel move from a bent knees crouch to flop on the floor of the upstairs in Rhubarb café bar, while being bombarded by Hannah’s speed reading of solutions to fictional events, mostly if not entirely based around popular culture references, well film scenarios for certain. And I realise something: I’m actually thinking, and I hope the same for the rest of the audience.

Low Profile’s: Dry Run, ran for over an hour, a durational performance asking the occasional dip in and out with Hannah and Rachel taking turns to read scenarios, solutions, and perform movements, some more obvious than others. My favourite moments came when their individual sequence of events became out of synch and they both performing their sequence of movements simultaneously, my other favourite moment was being berated by a (very familiar) member of the audience for trying to guess the films, which the scenarios came from.
Following a brief pause to run outside to smoke, back in to grab a beer and then upstairs to catch the next act: a clown, being lured by an oversized fishing rod, then seductively stripping down to her sensible pyjamas and milking herself while whining and occasionally whimpering, she left through the audience and all up a quietly chilling but blackly comic experience.

Dan tried not to slip on the clowns fake lactations as he made his way to the stage, posturing as Selina staggered through the audience to join him, every now and then careering into, and falling onto, unsuspecting public. A dance before they both turned and shadows described them applying make up for too long before facing the audience with inane grins and clown like smiles as their faces mimicked the (archetypal) airhostess golden glow and through this they delivered the most offensive round of jokes that would have made Bernard manning blush but this audience (and myself) laugh out loud. While is was all very clown like and the obvious nature of it’s stand up comedy, Dan and Selina seem skilled at referencing the trash nature of all of this. Their whole stage presence reminiscent of 60’s film (clearly assisted by Dan’s handlebar moustache) and we look forward to the day that Waxo Dan is produced (thank you Shaun!) the 60’s trash film where Dan turns members of the public into wax.

To round up the evening a stand up comic, a man who liked to tell jokes about bestiality and pointlessly mundane observational comedy: “Have you noticed how people from California are all like: ‘Hey I from California’ and how people from New York are all like: ‘Hey get out of my way on the pavement’”. It was terrible but once you got with it and realised the intentionally unfunny nature, it was actually, quite funny.
Oh, as we are on the Dan theme thought it was another chance to disseminate more or the ‘Liono Cafe Concrete Incident’, This time it’s DJ Contort with - Liono’s Amazing Adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom, again people take care there will be swearing…(here)
Neil Rose 9/3/08

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