Insolent. Nonchalant. Nonsense. is an aptly-named Brisbane Fringe Festival show that combines circus skills, physical comedy, puerile humour and the kind of skits you may remember from school camps.
It’s held in The Big Bambusa, a quirky and compact venue which circus performers would likely find limiting. Its surrounds and the mellow live musical accompaniment to the show create a relaxed atmosphere.
Reflecting this, the show starts quiet and subtly, with some cute physical comedy. But after waiting for half-an-hour after the advertised show time, the restless audience could have done with a little more of a bang to begin with.
The website tells us: ‘HoolaClique brings you a non-stop romp of ridiculous hilarity. Expect explosions of laughter of cataclysmic proportions, when these three charming “eedjits” deliver a brilliant show packed with heart stopping high skills’.
Instead, they deliver a slightly uneven show with some solid skills which seem hampered by the restrictions of the venue. The circus tricks are well executed and fun to watch, but there are too few for the length of the show.
While running gags are a staple of comedy routines, the length of the gag further slows the pace of a show that seemed to plod along in places. However, these lulls do give the audience an insight into the expressive faces of the performers and heighten the sense of awkwardness they are obviously aiming for.
The obligatory audience interaction had a slow start, with the crowd reluctant to get involved in the show early in the performance, but they warmed up later on and the performers handled any need for improvisation quite well.
The jokes seemed to amuse the crowd, but were perhaps aiming a little low — these jokes would have had teenagers in peals of laughter but gained a much more subdued response from the audience on the night. It’s the nonsensical fun you expect from the name, but a balance with a little more sophisticated humour may have appealed to a wider audience.
In a larger venue this troupe could really let loose and show us what they are capable of as performers. With some polish, some more circus stunts and work on their pacing, these performers could move out of the fringe and into the Brisbane Festival in the future.
Rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5
Insolent. Nonchalant. Nonsense.
The Big Bambusa Festival Garden, Musgrave Park
12–14 September
Brisbane Fringe Festival
brisbanefringe.com
1 – 14 September
