The Groggy Squirrel

Mathew Kenneally wants to start a war on Belgium. Wait, hear him out: at least there wouldn’t be any protesters chanting “No blood for chocolate”.

If you like some thinking with your comedy, then this is the show for you. Kenneally covers the big issues: politics, religion and war. There’s brief asides about public transport and how much he likes drinking, but this is close to a full hour of jokes about current affairs. Don’t worry – they’re funny current affairs jokes and you’ll get them. It just might take half a second, judging by the audience response.

It’s also a show about hope. For example, nerdy children needn’t worry, because popular people never amount to anything, right? Except beauty queen Sarah Palin, of course. And in this way, it also becomes a show about not being very good at hope. But through some brief and clever audience interaction, Kenneally suggests ways of changing that.

One stand-out story involved a ham-fisted attempt at a mugging that turned out to be something else. Another imagined the kind of political party that would run if occupied countries got to vote in the American elections. It’s not fair to pick and choose, though, from a show with so many very funny moments.

A lot of new-ish comics seem to tell stories about their parents or awkward first romances. Not this one – although family members feature, the focus is on national and international politics. This is an ambitious choice but works well for the most part. Some jokes only manage warm smiles. But others hit the target and provoke sustained laughter.

Some big laughs came out of the few points of improvisation in the show. It’s tightly scripted, but as Kenneally gains confidence, it would be great to see him allow more room for this kind of humour.

Kenneally trips over his words a little, but this seems to be only because he’s so eager to please. He keeps the energy high and the stories topical throughout. The structure was easy to follow, flowing from one topic to the next, never keeping the audience waiting to hear the end of one joke while riffing on an unrelated topic in that maddening way some comics have.

The venue, though quite intimate, is almost full. If the Obama/McCain race is your thing, definitely see this show. If not, it’s still a fun way to spend an hour. Kenneally is one to watch.

Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.