Damian Callinan and Tim Overton preside over a changing roster of literature-based comedy talent in The Out Of Print Book Club. Situated in the beautiful Ayers House until March 2, this enjoyable show has all the advantages, but also the disadvantages, of improvisation.
The two hosts are joined each show by three other Fringe performers. Callinan and Overton guide this group through a series of improvisations. They invent a baroque four-book saga about a truck driver. They discuss the books each of them are working on or have recently published. They debate the quality of storytelling and ideas in a sci-fi children’s novel. And they re-enact a scene from a newly rediscovered Shakespeare play.
Callinan and Overton act as excellent hosts, assisting their guest to find jokes and new ideas. The set up is well-planned, and the hosts always have a new idea to move on to. Beyond that, they are very entertaining themselves. This keeps the show interesting and the crowd laughing. However, you do get the impression that the two best performers on stage are the two hosts. The structure, in which they are constantly throwing the focus onto their guests, leaves you wishing you’d been able to see more of, and hear more from, the hosts.
Of course, improvisation is mercurial and always stands or falls on the abilities of those taking parts. On the day of this review, there was one guest who clearly couldn’t keep up with the rest of the performers. On a number of occasions, this broke up a flow of ideas just as it got going. The other guests and the hosts were able to work around this and the show was still pretty funny but it is hard not to wonder about what might have been.
It is also important to provide ways for participants in improvisation to use their best skills. Some will excel at word play, others at creating scenes and characters. This show improved markedly when the performers were able to start taking on caricatures and putting together skits.
Despite these shaky aspects, The Out Of Print Book Club has plenty of good jokes, both scripted and cooked up on the spot. The hosts are charming and there are enough ideas altogether to make the whole thing work. The audience is chuckling throughout and the action on stage never feels stuck or directionless.
The Out of Print Book Club is a well-oiled diversion with the potential, on the right day, to be brilliant.
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
Damian Callinan, Tim Overton and guests.
Ayers House Museum, State Dining Room, North Terrace
Adelaide Fringe
www.adelaidefringe.com.au
1 – 2 March
