ED FRINGE 2023 REVIEW | Frank Lavender, Be Funny
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reviewer - Jordan
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
I had the absolute joy of watching “the last straight man in show business” Frank Lavender delivers an absolutely unforgettable, laugh a minute (guaranteed), raccous time.
When you hear a comedian promote themselves as the last straight man in show business you might also hear alarm bells ringing, but Frank has created the perfect persona to deliver some of the most hilarious “blue” comedy I have heard in a long time. It was honestly a crime that the show I attended only had an audience that barely broke double figures, but that barely slowed Frank at all, he simply rolled this into the act and built this fantastic series of self-depricating bits with absolutey perfect delivery.
As soon as we stepped into the venue Frank was already there on stage, working the crowd, so I was in stitches before the show had even really begun. Due to the reduced audience size it was immediately obvious to Frank that I was writing a review for the show, being the only one with a notebook (sitting front row centre probably didn’t help, yes Frank, that was me), and this immediately made me a target, much to my own enjoyment.
For those unfamiliar with Fanks work, he presents himself as an “old fashioned” comedian who won’t shy away from jokes that “may offend”, but honestly you would have to reach pretty hard to find anything actually offensive in the show, everything is very self-aware, and the jokes weren’t about the jokes themselves, but the delivery, as Frank continues to put his foot in it, one gag after another. The delivery of the gags was only half of the performance as Frank made fantastic use of body language, stage and pacing, backing music, delivering catchy song numbers and even bringing out a ventriliquist dummy at one point, and while there was no ventriliquisim in the act, the handling and physical comedy with the dummy was one of the highlights of the show for me.
Frank is also joined on stage by his lovely wife who has their own pheneomental stage presence lending something to the show which would have been sorely missed without.
This show is criminally underatted and if you are able you definitely need to see it.
At Just the Tonic at La Belle Angele until 27 August.
