James Haslam opened in a star-spangled costume singing a song about cakes. Sadly because of his illness with a virus, the high notes were missed and so the beginning of the show detracted from what could have been a spectacular opener. The room would probably have been more impressed if he had gone straight into his routine at the start. Because the opening song wasn't pulled off he had to work incredibly hard for laughs.

This show was a slow burner, not necessarily laugh-out-loud comedy but consistently amusing with some moments of genius. The title implies toilet humour, smut and in-your-face comedy. In reality it was a relaxed, subtle, and conversational.

One of the opening jokes was a well-delivered piece about tv sex therapist Tracey Cox, about the ways of flirting. James Haslam explained that Tracey Cox suggested that women should use their own smell when attracting a mate. To do this a woman would need for example to pop to the toilet and stick her finger in her vagina, and apply the juice to pressure points on her neck. Her own smell should hopefully attract a mate. The punch line was 'Kippers by Coco Channel'. This started to warm the room up. A few people left. At only ten minutes into the show, the performer dealt with directly by saying 'It's so quiet in here you could here an eyelash drop', which won the room back.

The act found its camp core when JH discussed using his hairdressing skills on cabaret performer Lorna Luft. After getting backstage at a show to meet her, his friend Diane suggested that he could help her out. Lorna Luft arrived at his east London shrine of a home to (Lorna Luft's mother) Judy Garland. He took down pictures before Lorna Luft arrived worrying that she would think he was a stalker. His story about colouring Lorna Luft’s hair over his bath was one of the highlights of the show.

A laugh-out-loud moment came from his moment of playing a Dalek for a Doctor Who show at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth. This should have been the opener to the show, with some good filthy one-liners, delivered by JH with a plunger a Dalek head-dress on.

Tonight's show didn't quite deliver. It had all the elements of a great comic evening but it didn't pull itself together. The crowd were only warming up about halfway into the show, and when it finished it seemed too soon. It felt as if it was just getting into the swing of things - people seemed unsure whether it finished or not, with no encore or bow. Although this show was disappointing, James Haslam is definitely worth seeing. With the right material, his comedy potential could be realised.

Cast Credits: James Haslam

Company Credits: Writers - James Haslam & Philip Lawrence. Director - Philip Lawrence. Co- Producer - Alison Edmunds. Lighting & Sound Operator - Chris Paddon. Music Arranged & Performed by - Sam West. Producer - uncredited. Company - uncredited.

END

(c) Rebecca Talbot 2008

reviewed Sunday 3 August 08 / Liberties

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008

www.fringereport.com