It’s a hot Saturday evening and we’re in the Urban Cow Art Gallery at the back of the Howling Owl Gin Bar, just off Rundle Street.
Danny Bhoy starts out by mentioning how hot it is, at 36 degrees. Then lets us know that when he has said this to Adelaidians, the response he gets is, “You think this is hot? This is nothing. Laaarrrst month – laaaaaaaaarst month, it was fuckin’ 48 degrees mate”.
And right away you’re laughing. He’s got inside your head already. He knows the room, and he knows what every single Australian in the room, when confronted with a visitor from the UK saying how hot it is in the 30s has said almost those exact same words, right down to the emphasis on laaaaaaarst. I know I have.
It’s not just the laughing at yourself that makes it so funny, it’s the perfect mimicry of the Australian accent coming from the mouth of a Scotsman. No doubt this was perfected in the times Danny has gone on extended tours of country Australia. His mastery of the accent in and of itself is cause for levity.
From that moment forward he has the audience in the palm of his hand. It’s a very intimate venue and I don’t know if it makes the show more energetic and funny just because it is so small. It’s not like a 2000 seat venue, where people further back are more removed from the energy of the show.
There are 80-100 people in the room, so we are all the front rows of the show. My partner and I are near the back and yet we are still only 15 feet from him.
And so on it goes, anecdotes interspersed with a generous amount of ad libbing. He seems to go off on hilarious tangents at will. You don’t know where his actual material ends and the ad libbing begins. It’s part of the unique charm of his performance.
The audience is in hysterics. There’s a woman behind me laughing uncontrollably. Closer to the front there’s a woman with tears streaming down her face and Danny’s noticed her. He’s asking her what part she found so funny. She can barely get out… “The John bit”, which mystifies Danny until he realises that the bit she’s talking about is not one of the scripted bits, but one of his ad libs.
This is one of the features of the show – the audience banter. It’s not like some, a heckler heckling and the performer putting them in their place with an acid response. It’s more of a fun back and forth between him and the audience.
A lady in one of the front rows stands. He looks at her. As if feeling the need to explain herself she says, “I’m going to the toilet”. Oh dear. Really? She must have known that Danny would make something of her telling everyone in the room that.
It all ends far too soon. There’s another comedian on next and Danny can’t go on past his allotted time, though it seems he is having fun and wants to carry on.
So sadly we file out, pumped full of endorphins from the laughter, wishing we could have had just a few more minutes.
I know comedy is a subjective thing and everybody’s sense of humour is different, but to my mind this guy is one of the top handful of stand up comedians in the world today. For my partner and I, on the strength of this performance he went to the top of our list.
I’d like to say if you get a chance, go and see him, but you can’t. He’s here until March 18th and every show is sold out. But certainly, he is one comedian to keep an eye out for and see at all costs.
