home
|
about
|
news
|
contents
|
gossip
|
photographs
|
venues
|
brighton
|
dublin
|
edinburgh
|
film
|
features
|
interviews
|
awards
|
fashion
|
recipes
|
no more drinks
|
newsletter
|
links
|
contact
Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Eddie Naessens
Little Terror!
Verdict: Odyssey through fear
Eddie Naessens’s Little Terror! starts out sounding very familiar - humour about parents and family while growing up. In his case it was a family of 10 in Ireland.
But by using this familiar format to illustrate how he saw his parents dealing with anxieties (which was, evidently, mostly by panicking), he uses it as an entry point to his theme - which is fear.
The rest of the show is a description of his odyssey through fear. It started with being diagnosed with cancer at 24. Eddie Naessens’s distinguishing feature on stage is that half of his face is more or less paralysed as a result of anti-cancer surgery. It is a feature that is accentuated by his preference for using a headset on that side for his microphone. Mostly, his experience, as recounted, was one of exasperation with an incompetent, unhelpful medical system.
Along the way, he visits America and Australia - and has a chance to spice his show with those and other accents. There are insights, such as the inverted message of hope that people are at their healthiest mentally when preoccupied with trivia, not misery. For those who like their humour dark, this is a show to see. For those who just want to laugh without contemplating the Grim Reaper, it’s one to steer clear of.
Credits: Written & performed by Eddie Naessens. Technical Operator - Venue Staff.
END
(c) Brad Hall 2005
reviewed Tuesday 19 July 05 / Downstairs At The King's Head
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
