From the moment Hans Teeuwen’s show begins, the audience realises they have no idea what they’ve let themselves in for. Impossible to describe, Teeuwen’s fearless comedy is one to either love or hate. Unquestionably talented, one cannot help but feel the audience is only given a glimpse of what he has to offer, with the grand piano on the stage put to entertaining but minimal use. The nature of his comedy is absurd and confrontational, and certainly Teeuwen is not one for the faint hearted or easily offended. His digressions and confusing fantasies reveal a wonderfully strange and scattered mind, in which cynicism and sensuality remain at the fore. However, the show lacks coherence and at times Teeuwen loses both himself and the audience in what seems to be an experiment in extremities rather than a polished show.
There is no topic too gruesome or inappropriate for this man, from anal worms to the ballad of ‘I Like Your Cunt’, Teeuwen stretches the imagination of the audience far beyond it’s comfort zone. Never one to let the audience predict what’s coming next, he is erratic and unsettling, providing an energetic, perplexing show interspersed with moments of brilliance and a face so expressive it was made for comedy.
Pleasance Courtyard, 4-29 Aug (not 11, 18, 25), 10.30pm
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