Triumph of the Wil
When
Wil Anderson hit the stage I expected to see the glib, wisecracking
and - let’s face it - smug Anderson of “Glass House”
fame.
It’s always a gamble to buy in to a stage
persona based only on an image built by the team writers and slick
production of television. Often it disappoints, but with Wil Anderson
the real thing is so much better than the promo.
Opening act is local boy and Anderson’s radio
tag-team mate, Lehmo.
Using a mix of older, trusted material and some
fresh new stuff, his 20-minute spot warms the audience up nicely,
so that by the time Anderson takes to the stage the crowd is ready
to go.
Personable, sincere, slightly nutty and well-intentioned
might make Anderson sound tame, but he’s anything but. Using
a 15-year old in the audience as foil and focus for the evening,
we were taken on the rounds of what it means to be 33 these days
– including a recount of being compared to Jesus the year
he died and told “well at least he did something with his
life!”
From there the subjects fly past – emo culture,
health, nightclubbing in your 30’s (not a good idea!), being
a ‘bloke’ and finishing up with the potentially spiky
subjects of politics and religion. Underpinning it all is an inspirational
message of just being kind to each other, ensuring everyone is
sent home with a warm ’n’ fuzzy feeling.
A measure of any comic’s ability is whether
he or she is able to take a ‘wrong’ subject and not
only make it funny, but make it comfortable for the audience.
Anderson proves his worth when, in telling the Downs Syndrome
Rock Eisteddfod story, he manages not only to elicit laughs, but
also huge respect for the cast of the tale.
The bare stage and the clever choice of a radio
mic rather than the traditional hand-held gives Anderson the space
and freedom for his manic physical comedy. Structure, pace and
timing are vital in standup. If the show’s too short the
audience feels cheated, too long and they quickly get tired. Anderson
got it right on all counts.
It’s intelligent, professional and high-quality
comedy – Wil of God is heavenly standup.
Maggie Moore
