Sitting at round tables in the strangely cold Limelight theatre, we are so close to the stage that Jason John Whitehead (Canadian) is able to maintain direct eye contact with us.

It’s a wee bit disconcerting, a forced intimacy highlighting those of us who do or do not laugh at the appropriate moments. Fortunately there are enough laughs to sustain the evening and I don’t have to force a fearful smile into place.

For the most part JJ’s confidential and rambling style is working well. His delivery brings to mind a looser, less offensive Bill Hicks. He attempts and mostly succeeds in taking a law or thought from either end of the political spectrum and brutalizing it for all its comic worth. I laugh a lot, even whilst I ponder and quickly refute much of his logic. 

And therein lies the point, which he insists on pointing out throughout the evening. A lot of his show is satire based or simply silly. I like silly, it’s the suture to the wounds he makes us face. 

Most of the audience enjoy his stinging take on subjects as diverse as fatherhood, to being mistaken for a Nazi. When you laugh at something, it takes the fear and power of it away.

I wince a few times and am taken to dark places when he extends the joke on beating undisciplined children, but that wouldn’t stop me from seeing JJ again. Anyone who even remotely makes me think of Bill Hicks is worth it. Enjoy.
_______________________________
For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News. 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer

He can flash a fine set of white gnashers to counter any shock we might feel at something that’s slipped from those oh-so-innocent lips. This is what he means, I guess, with his ’emotional whitemail’ tag.

After being introduced (not by himself) as "an emotional white male", Jason John Whitehead’s opening ramble about how the title is supposed to be a pun sets the tone for a relaxed and deceptively random set. It won’t matter how we react, he’ll make a virtue of it anyway – like noting the way we Kiwi’s titter behind our hands at the politically incorrect bits.

His "stoner dude" persona with a Scooby Doo voice lends credence to the East Canadian innocence he claim to have entered the wider world with, approaching all with a laid back tolerance. But he’s into his 30s now and more prepared to confront what pisses him off, like righteous people … And now his voice takes on a Seinfeld tone.

His targets and topics also include reality TV, sport, sporty people, drugs in sport, fear of Easter, the dangers of cyber social networking, his girlfriend, his biological clock, the kid question, living in England …

Whitehead works the intimate if awkward space that is Happy with practised ease, engaging with specific audience members without exploiting them.

"Comedy should come from a true place," he says. And yes, he comes from Canada. And North London.
_______________________________
For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News. 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer