Comedian Rob Deering delivers a series of song parodies interspersed with comedy loosely based on society's perception of women in the 21st century. The title comes from typing the number 58008 into a calculator and turning it upside-down to spell the word boobs. Rob Deering jokes about the other titles that this method could have resulted in. To continue the knowingly juvenile theme, on stage there is a picture of him with his head superimposed onto the body of a busty woman. This is 'a satire on the sexist nature of contemporary advertising', he says, tongue firmly in cheek.

The first song is a parody of Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash which Rob Deering alters to relate to the Edinburgh Fringe and the venue he is playing in. He discusses the British attitude to weather with reference to recent heavy rain in Edinburgh, impressing with his up-to-date material. In order to add sonic layers to his songs, he uses a series of looped samples recorded in front of the audience. He initially records himself doing a short human beat-box, then plays it back repeatedly using a series of effects-pedals, producing a drum track. By using this method a number of times he can add several different tracks including bass guitar and backing vocals. It works as a particularly clever way of producing an impressive sound quickly and easily without any need for pre-recorded music.

The set follows a regular pattern of short comedic vignettes punctuated by songs, some of which need the audience to be involved – eg a parody of the Shaft theme by Isaac Hayes. Humour is gentle rather than uproarious, and it isn't until a well-judged segment on rap music that the show begins to take off. A running joke about tortoises gets funnier with each repetition, and each song-choice is perfectly vocally-aped - from Elvis to The Beatles, and Queen to Dolly Parton.

The highlight arrives in the last ten minutes with a faultless take on Marvyn Gay's Let's Get It On and a version of The White Stripe's Seven Nation Army, with an audience member on drums.

Rob Deering is a fine guitarist and vocalist with a confident delivery and a cheeky sense of humour. Sadly, while the song spoofs can be funny, they are all too brief, and his material never really progresses beyond one-liners and quick gags. Some of his ideas are interesting and deserve to be expanded more, but he never gives any topic time to develop into something more than a quip. Even his songs are cut short when they seem to have more mileage in them. The overall impression is of a show that jumps around, with the performer never seeming to have the faith to let the comedy flow naturally. While there is no doubting the multi-faceted talents needed to write and perform this show, there are very few belly-laughs.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Rob Deering - Performer.

Company Credits: Writer / Director - Rob Deering. Technical Operator - uncredited. Producer - uncredited. Company - Avalon Promotions. Website - www.robdeering.com.

END

(c) David Hepburn 2008

reviewed Sunday 10 August 2008 / Underbelly's Baby Belly, Edinburgh

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com