Having just watched a great performance at The Fortune Theatre of Thom Pain (based on nothing) directed by Alex Wilson, I find myself in the second venue of the evening, The Dunedin Fringe Festival Club. As we enter I feel transported to fond memories of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It is a wonderful atmosphere, the beautiful lights and a buzz of conversation adds to the anticipation.

Central to the scene is a stage with a projected image of a bollard. We are not sure what to expect; I have brought with me an expert in construction who happens to be an actor and director too. I am sat in the front row behind a series of cabaret style tables with flowers. A wonderfully dressed man looks like he is our host (Andrew Choate); he is a charismatic presence in the room. The music is ambient and seems to be building as the performance time draws closer. 

I guessed correctly, the well-dressed man takes the stage to reveal his lyrical American accent. He launches straight into a comedic commentary of the first image. He explains that he is based in LA but is from South Carolina. This displacement and juxtaposition of cultures within America is something that we see echoed in his work.

Whilst viewing the image of a group of bollards, the poetry focuses on the idea of empty beer bottles. I am trying to find meaning in the contrast of the image and the words but it is over quickly and the next image is on the screen. The fast pace is an excellent way of avoiding over-analysis. The main premise of the work is explained prior to the next interlude. Choate explains that he aims to use “writing as a landscape”, highlighting the use of repetition as his concept of a horizon line. 

The pictures have a brief introduction and it is becoming clear that they are in juxtaposition with the commentary we hear from our hilarious host. One idea that gets a great reaction from the audience is the social comment about food blogging and sharing that is prevalent on social media. Let’s be honest, we all have that friend who takes pictures of every meal and shares it.

The picture for this section that features Walmart and MacDonalds signs in the background with the bollard centre stage. Prompted by an observation that people are using food as an expression of higher experience, the amusing performer has everyone laughing as he makes a great point about the way modern society over dramatizes and obsesses over food on such mediums as Instagram and Facebook. The line “it’s a great fruit blister blast, burst it to eat it” brings the house down and gets huge applause.

Our host is likeable, he is slightly awkward and delivers his work with a complete dead pan expression. This is further developed as he introduces the audience to his long-suffering mother who has had endure his alley searching for bollards around the world. This offbeat comedy is certainly going down well with the crowd, and he has complete audience buy in.

His impossibly hard titles are funny and very much part of the experience. Is this a new form of absurd that is influenced by The Mighty Boosh or The Big Bang Theory I find myself thinking? Not really much time to think as we launch into another picture.

The delivery is very much about the unexpected. Introduced to the classic American formation of a bollard, which is yellow, the audience react with excitement. The poem that follows is a slightly flat childlike song: an interesting commentary, perhaps, on America?

Now we are looking at two red bollards and the focus is on the phrase “Don’t blank angry”. This is the fastest and most animated delivery so far and the performance seems to be coming towards a climax. The commentary is about many things that the audience agree make them angry, the most prominent being technology.  

The repetition is a way of including and incorporating us as an audience. This is a clever structural device which effectively allows for a particular participation. Each photo is getting a laugh and the flow of the work is great. The atmosphere is very positive and I am looking around at a room full of engaged people.

Next is a great bollard and song that reminds me of an episode of Friends: the one in which Ross reveals his passion for music and his lack of conventional talent. I am sat here, not really sure what I am watching. But I am amused.

The level of participation is now increased as we are directed to make eye contact with the person next to us. What follows is an offbeat poem that has the audience laughing wildly, ending with “that’s what happens when you have no one to pick up your body”. Thank goodness we are instructed to break eye contact.

Andrew Choate is a great manipulator and the audience is more than willing to take part. Last picture and the audience are still engaged. The audience is now fully participating and they love it.

A crazy 30 minutes have passed and to sum it up in words of our host “Ice cream headache Woof!”  

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