However, this is exactly what happened when Phil Nichol, one of the most talented and energetic stand-ups in the business, found his new show was flagging. The Canadian comic climbed over chairs and pretended to make a pass at a young man in the audience before mounting the mantelpiece from where, to great laughter, he continued his act.
Nichol has written and delivered some amazing Fringe shows in
his career including The Naked Racist,
which won Edinburgh’s big comedy award, the superb Nearly Gay and the inspired Welcome to Crazytown among others. Sadly,
this year’s show is not classic Nichol.
Hung on the premise of having been dumped twice (by the love
of his life and on the rebound by another girl), Nichol declared, “I don’t want
to talk about it” and proceeded to regale his audience with unconnected pieces
of material: an insect that makes love for 24 hours before dying, a dispute
over a word for "unGoogleable", his admiration for the Academy Award-winning
actress Helen Hunt, and other bits and bobs.
There is undoubtedly a mesmeric quality to his performance
but the apparently random nature of the set made it less satisfying to watch
than a thematic show. He fell back on audience interaction, particularly with a quirky girl named Alice and the young man he claimed to fancy.
The show’s climax came when a fairly obvious plant heckled
Nichol on his performance and was invited onto the stage to have a go himself. He
picked up a guitar and beautifully sang Rod Stewart’s I Don’t Want To Talk
About It, before he and Nichol offered to lead the entire audience down to their subsequent Cray
Cray Cabaret at the Assembly Rooms, as their VIP guests.
Phil Nichol is a great performer but as a show I Don’t Want To Talk About It is by no means his finest hour.
****
Ollie Wilson,
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