| 11 August 2011
Awash with identikit comedians, you can often leave Fringe stand-ups feeling a numbing sense of déjà vu. That is, of course, unless you have had the experience of sitting in the audience of Tony Law’s new show, Go Mr Tony Go! Expectant of an audience well-versed in the tropes of stand-up, Tony makes it his mission to turn every expectation on its heads, in a fabulously Mad-Hatter-and-the-March-Hare-like way.
Arriving onto the stage dressed in what can only be described as the get-up of a 19th century polar explorer, Tony starts his show with appropriate boldness. Getting mileage out of the ludicrously early starting time, laughing at how his hairstyle resembles that of a paedophile, and his admission that he is the only surviving triplet, having absorbed the rest, his opening segment is as barmy as it is hilarious. Parlour games and tales of panda bear prostitution shortly follow.
With a booming voice and a penchant for taking up the roles of heckler and general commentator of his own show, one feels somewhat overwhelmed by the madness and surreal wit of our host. There is something perhaps of a real life Ron Burgandy about this man, minus the cute dog sidekick. Indeed, he freely professes, “I’m just dangerous. Yes I am. I fly close to sun. I am out of control, mentally ill even. Not the black dog of depression but a gang of puppies nibbling at you!” Make of this what you will.
Tony falters in his overuse of padding and inclination to burn himself out with his own enthusiasm. That said, this is one of the most wacky and original performances I’ve seen so far this Fringe.
Tony Law: Go Mr Tony is Go!, The Stand Comedy Club II, 4-28 Aug (not 15 or 21), 1.40 pm
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