Edinburgh Fringe 2013
Low Down
Benny Boot takes is into the world of making a stnad-up DVD live – from his askew and very unique perspective
Review
With an original construct, a unique voice and a tight show, Benny Boot has found a perfectly delightful way to deliver his up tempo and engagingly askew slant on the world.
The conceit, in place from the moment the audience files in to take their seats, is that this is a live recording of the greatly in demand DVD Boot has high hopes commissioning editors will be clambering to buy up and fill our Christmas stockings with. With a cardboard camera documenting our arrival manned by the effects ‘ninjas’, Boot takes the stage as ‘Patrick’ the producer to explain that "black screen special effects" will allow DVD extras to be added as the show is being recorded. And so it begins.
Boot’s seemingly meandering mind darts about from tight punch line to tight punch line, keeping our interest piqued as he defies predictability and jumps from pizza to monsters deftly, using his wide-eyed delivery and physicality to fully emerse us in his world. Sparsely peppering the set with interruptions from the DVD extras, Boot’s inner monologue delivers a dialogue with his unsupportive mother via puppetry – a medium that works well throughout our DVD journey.
In fact, there is something a little wondrous in this sweet, funny and at times melancholy journey. Boot’s voice, filled with curiosity and the answers to all those ‘why’s that arrive on long car journeys with an insatiable young mind, is refreshingly unlike any other in our current comedy arena. In fact, it prompts further wonder at the ridiculous barriers that pop up through ‘convention’, that Boot’s mind ignores. He leaves us, not with a DVD, but a real wonder and appreciation of the previously ignored and skipped through hidden extras. The ending doesn’t quite match up to the hour’s travelling to get there, feeling rushed and tacked on. But it’s not the end of the world, just a glimpse of a doorway into another one.
