Rhys Darby Mr Adventure at The Lowry, Manchester Review
Rhys Darby – Mr Adventure
The Lowry, Manchester
19 July 2014
Reviewed by Debbie Tasker
Last night we went along to The Lowry Theatre Salford to watch the stand-up comedian Rhys Darby as he stopped off on part of his UK tour. It was a lovely evening so we went a little earlier than the start of the show (8pm) parked in the outlet multi-storey with no problem and decided to have pre show drink. There are plenty of bars and eateries including Nandos, Lime, Bella Italia, Harvesters and Bar Rouge. If you have a drink or meal in any of these places they will stamp your car park ticket so it is free of charge. Tonight though we decided to try the Terrace bar in The Lowry itself. It is situated on the quayside with fantastic views of the local area. Although overpriced it was a pleasant change and we enjoyed watching the boats go by.
I had never heard of Rhys Darby so went with an open mind. The show kicks off with his alter ego Bill Napier who is (I learnt later in the evening form a big fan) his character in Short Poppies. He was kind of funny but nothing to call home about. I guess if you watch the programme you would ‘get it’ but unfortunately we didn’t! He then introduced his supporting act Hedluv and Passman a rapping duo from Cornwall. I found these two rather bizarre one pranced around in his underpants throwing his mike in the air while now and again bursting into energetic dance and pelvic thrusts while the other was fully dressed including a bob hat and was rather more lethargic. They performed a few numbers finishing with some audience participation where we all had to dance and follow their moves! I giggled throughout this part because it just seemed so absurd. The crowd who were predominantly young (18-30) loved it and seemed to be having a ball.
There was then a 15 minute interval before the main act came on stage. Rhys Darby starts of telling us he doesn’t usually wear skin tight jeans but there is a method in his madness and proceeds to talk about pick pockets and how to catch them – with the use of skin tight jeans. From here he talks about the New Zealand army, marriage, his youth, magic mushrooms, the Loch Ness Monster and meeting gorillas in the Rwandan Jungle. The jokes and wit flow and he is certainly good at what he does. He doesn’t falter and the audience were in fits of laughter throughout.
There are a couple of video messages projected on a screen at the back of the stage and drawings to set the scene of some of this escapist story telling. Hedluv and Passman are brought back on numerous occasions to provide the backing track also.
There is no doubt Rhys Darby is a popular stand-up comic. The audience enjoyed it thoroughly. I personally wasn’t too thrilled but I think that was as my humour differs from his routines. Having said that, I found myself laughing out loud at some stories especially his wife and her calling him all the time. Maybe because I am guilty of doing the same thing myself!
A good evening but in my opinion an acquired taste.
Rating: 3/5
For more information and tour dates visit www.rhysdarby.com.
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, Manchester, M50 3AZ | 0843 208 6000
