REVIEW: JACQUES BARRETT IN THE CONTRARIAN

2013 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL

REVIEW: JACQUES BARRETT IN THE CONTRARIAN

VENUE AND DATES: TONY STARR’S KITTEN CLUB, 1/267 COLLINS STREET, UNTIL APRIL 20, 2013.

ASSESSMENT: Barrett’s smart and likeable enough, just not memorable.
 

JACQUES BARRETT IS THE CONTRARIAN - SUPPLIED.

STAR RATING: 3.

What could be worse than growing up an overweight, only child in country Queensland, with parents who come from the Schapelle Corby school of naming children, and who name you Jacques Barrett?

Well, when those same parents send you to speech, drama, etiquette and deportment classes. Put those factors together, and for young Barrett it must have been like wearing a permanent “Bully Me” sign.

This opening monologue is the most successful segment of the evening for this intelligent, articulate, and likeable stand-up comedian who is also analytical and an atheist. He’s too smart to be a Christian.

Barrett combines confessional comedy, with a more pedestrian, unremarkable, and generally meandering stand-up routine.

Some of his confessions include his use of various recreational drugs, such as marijuana. His story regarding ordering pizzas after watching the movie, Home Alone, and while being stoned is a hoot.

On this night, his meanderings touched on those nasty thoughts we all get in our heads from time to time and which often compel us to do something like sponsor a child in Ethiopia (Barrett does, apparently); to men who punch above their weight in the girl-friend stakes; to the inherent problems of dating Sydney women when you earn only a modest amount of money, to comparing women to cookies who are on different levels of the pantry of life – from those on the top shelf, to those who are mere crumbs on the floor.

If you don’t mind meandering, Barrett’s show is worth a look.

BY: JOE CALLERI.

NB: REVIEW ALSO PUBLISHED ON HERALD SUN ONLINE, APRIL 10, 2013.