Not So Common Sense opens with country music and marker-pen cartoons projected onto a white screen. They come in pairs, set-up followed by punch line, and announce not-so-normal maxims like 'Make this Christmas the best Christmas ever: give your family the gift of nudity'. They are funny and a good ice-breaker, rolling over in the background until Jarlath Regan arrives on stage, in a lumberjack shirt and tracksuit top, to introduce his support act, Lucius. Lucius has a questionable Bostonian accent and also wears a lumberjack shirt and tracksuit top. He is personable, charismatic even, and - with a little help from his friends – does a fine job.

This is a show about people and, more importantly, relationships; the things that make them last; the things that test them to breaking point, and the lessons that can be learned from holding them at arms length and taking a good look. It is full of acute observations about marriage, friendship and the ubiquitousness of Cup-a-Soup, delivered in a style that is earnest, engaging, and at times reminiscent of a motivational speaker (he calls it the 'substitute teacher thing'). He is a simple performer, aiming to amuse rather than to shock or offend, and he is largely successful.

The show falls down tonight on audience participation. This is in part due to the participants – one man on the front row in particular, who is frequently picked on but is clearly reluctant to speak up – and in part due to Jarleth Regan's responses; he's not quite as comfortable with off-script sections of the show as he is with the set pieces, and at times they feel slightly trite. But he soon recovers, and the final twenty or thirty minutes are fast-paced and brilliant. Physically warmed-up and visibly enjoying himself, he turns the focus onto his own relationship, and his mimicry of his wife's facial expressions turns out to be the undisputed high point of the show.

Not So Common Sense is bookended by audio and visual stunts that break up the hour effectively: in the beginning there is Lucius, and at the end, wrapping up a comment on dancing and to illustrate the absolute necessity for a signature move, there is 'The Get Smart'. The venue morphs from black box theatre into club, the stage becomes dancefloor, and Jarlath Regan, mid-move, flicks a trainer over his head, catches it deftly in one hand, and, holding it up to his ear, 'takes the call'.

This is a solid and good-natured show that finds joy in the quirks of the human condition. It is easygoing and refreshingly free from cynicism.

Cast Credits: Performer - Jarlath Regan

Company Credits: Writer - Jarlath Regan.. Director - uncredited. Technical Operator - Fiona. PR - Mel Brown (Impressive PR). Producer - uncredited. Company - Mick Perrin. Website - www.mickperin.com.

END

(c) Letitia Longworth 2010

reviewed Thursday 5 August 10 / Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com