From the moment Jonny Potts walks on stage in a slightly ill-fitting, rumpled suit with umbrella in hand, you know you’re in for a treat. He is at once charming and slightly mysterious. He spends the first few moments of the show connecting with his audience and revealing himself/his character through casual, small movements and gestures while music plays. A little bit funny, a little bit cheeky, he acknowledges and entices the audience in a casual but totally authentic way.

Billed as a guided tour of the video shops of Wellington, this piece is so much more. Working simultaneously on a number of levels, it ranges across a variety of themes, topics and performance styles without ever losing its charm and accessibility. It comes across as a combination of a TED talk, a Slam Poetry performance and, well, a guided tour of the video shops of Wellington.

Potts’ writing moves seamlessly from descriptions of these stores and their locations, to existential musings on memory and nostalgia, to humorous (and all too familiar) accounts of what it is to be a Wellingtonian. Indeed in many ways this piece is a love-letter to Wellington. There are many moments of recognition from the audience as the tour moves from Te Aro to the Terrace to Karori. 

Potts’ performance comes across as casual and effortless but it is clear that he is a master craftsman. His presentation is beautifully nuanced and layered. Potts plays with the rhythms of speech, at times approaching a kind of madness-fuelled intensity and at others pausing and stuttering his lines, seemingly searching for a way back onto the intended path. He is such an open and comfortable performer, connecting strongly with us from the beginning, that we are totally willing to jump on board the winding, intricate tour of his multidimensional mind. The piece is never dull, never boring, and there are always new surprises and insights just around the next corner.

If you have ever borrowed anything from Aro Valley Video, or battled black mould in an upstairs rented apartment, or made a promise to yourself to watch The Hudsucker Proxy, this is the show for you. (Even if you haven’t, see this show!) This is a perfect example of what good Fringe theatre can be; intelligent, engaging, funny and strangely self-affirming.

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