by SUSAN BUDD
Paul Ego must be the most relaxed comedian on the circuit. Dressed in what appear to be pyjama pants, but with a spiky haircut, he seems hardly the epitome of cool.
But cool is the subject of his dissertation. Groovy is also an oft-used word. Hip, however, is out. He has enormous charm, even when making sly digs at the audience, and a lovely, mellow voice. He slides over American pronunciations of certain key words, muses on schoolboy cool, James Bond and cafe culture.
Ego is at his best in the final bracket of the show when he pays tribute to crooners such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, whom he sees as prime exponents of cool. He sings a la Sinatra an autopsy report that sounds ravishingly seductive and a catalogue of diseases in the style of Martin that is as sweet as any love song. He proves his point that they are a triumph of style over substance, which could, perhaps, be said about his own show.
Laugh! Festival: Paul Ego
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.