Comedy / james acaster
Review: James Acaster, The Lantern
Those within The Lantern tonight barely noticed themselves falling under James Acaster’s witty spell. So subtle is his process of enrapturing the crowd that his set takes the blissful form of one long, magic moment of irreverence. With a central theme of turning back the clock and having a fresh start in life, Acaster’s show Reset is centred upon the idea that he is going into witness protection.
Using this outlandish circumstance as a basis to grow clever little tales, such as one about a honey-based supermarket scam, Acaster’s stories twist and turn down unsuspecting corridors of minuscule detail. You won’t see the big laughs coming, but out of nowhere they leap, delighting the crowd with the stupendous absurdity of trying to buy a shopping divider at a supermarket.
As witness his comparison between life and Tetris (“when it starts to get messy, we stack it all up quickly and start afresh, rather than work to sort the mess we made out.”), it soon becomes clear that the most impressive thing about Acaster is his ability to hone in on the most trivial details of life and blow them up into giant metaphors.
He explores seemingly inconsequential topics, such as the difference between the English and Australian turns of phrases for making a cup of tea. He manages to make this minor grievance snowball into an effective dismantling of post-Brexit Britain – complete with increasingly frustrated tone and spikey Jarvis Cocker-esque hand gestures.
As whimsical as they are opinionated, Acaster’s deadpan ramblings take observational comedy into a realm all his own. Concluding that he is highly suspicious of people who boast that “they wouldn’t change a thing”, it’s a sentiment that certainly holds true for those who saw Acaster’s stellar performance this evening.
James Acaster: Reset The Lantern, Sept 28 and Sept 29. Both nights sold out. For more Lantern and Colston Hall comedy lineups, visit www.colstonhall.org/whats-on/comedy
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