| 09 August 2011
This performance was painful: I knew it, the audience knew it, even Scott Capurro knew it – after all, he commented on it several times himself.
If his aim was for his audience to suck in their breath in shock at most of his show, he certainly achieved that. About halfway through the show, I think he gave up trying to be funny through wit and just decided to offend people, instead. He constantly referred to a 17-year-old boy as gay and pretended to hit on him; he went on to label the girl sitting next to the boy as first a man, and then a lesbian, which felt like watching bullying take place - something he mentioned during his set as something he was against, having suffered himself.
Capurro feels the need to constantly remind us that he is gay as though we’re going to be shocked. He also reminded me of someone just learning how to use innuendo, which he did constantly – hardly clever comedy.
Conversely, as though deciding that some subjects really are taboo, there is a chance we missed some of the best punchlines as Capurro muttered some under his breath – I’d love to have heard the show more clearly. Perhaps he will improve during his run.
Capurro is a previous Perrier award winner and has been credited as a major talent on the Fringe scene and as a veteran of the festival, so he deserves some respect. It is only when he talks about the fairly recent death of his mother, as well as his love for his boyfriend, that you see the intelligence and raw emotion beneath. He was most watchable in the moments when sadness and love passed over his face, and this human aspect saved this performance from one star.
Scott Capurro: Who Are the Jocks?, Pleasance Dome, 9-29 Aug, 8pm
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