Review: Lonely Stupid Violent

Content Warning: blood, suicide, explicit material.

This might be the most I have laughed at a Cambridge show. It was so unexpected, so wonderfully weird, so unbelievably odd. Let’s just say, I wasn’t expecting to see a guy suck off a microphone on a random Tuesday night, and yet I did.

This is a stand-up show of a man desperate for validation, but also a sketch show, and a depiction of a man’s transition from slightly unsteady to fully insane. Murder? Present. Silly puns which the audience adores? Present. Unhinged Samaritan? Present.

Frankie Browne, as Himself — the main character, the comedian, the narrator, the guy losing his mind before your eyes — was absolutely brilliant. His performance felt incredibly real: from muttering and stammering, showing his self-consciousness, to looking at the audience with crazy eyes desperately waiting for a reaction. His delivery of lines was astonishing, with every single joke landing perfectly. The audience loved Frankie; he was so charismatic in his awkwardness and madness.

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Although it seems like Frankie is alone in his insanity, this isn’t entirely a one man show — he has co-stars, who at times feel real, and at times imaginary. The rest of the cast did an incredible job in portraying these characters. Martha Alexander was brilliant. She managed to convey shock, fear, acceptance and despair, all within the same scene. She was the voice of reason taken hostage. Seeing her tied to a chair and Frankie, covered in blood, performing a sketch about ridiculously expensive babyccino was such a surreal image to see on stage, yet it fit perfectly within the show. James Allen, as one of the policeman, gave a wonderful, albeit brief, performance. His one-liners were delivered expertly and, like the rest of the jokes in the show, landed amazingly with the audience. Jenny Jones as the Samaritan was fantastic, and her character was so well written to be simultaneously irrational and yet fitting incredibly within the logic of the show.

The actors were also some of the creators of the show, and I have to say, everyone in the writers room is truly talented (Martha Alexander, James Allen, Dom Andrew, Helen Brookes, Jenny Jones, Aidán Sinclair, Frankie Browne). This was such a well written show, with not a single moment where the audience wasn’t engaged, which is really impressive. The transitions from creepy and uneasy to extremely funny and ridiculous were masterful, with just the right parts exaggerated. The show was meta without losing the balance. The comedy was executed brilliantly through words, body language, juxtaposition of the extremely serious with the absurdly unserious. All the nuances were thought through — everything was just beautifully done.

The audience interactions were amazing, and the random panto-like questions were so hilarious. “Isn’t this exciting, boys and girls?!” being said about calling the Samaritans as the protagonist tries to talk himself out of committing suicide was definitely surprising. I happen to be reviewing the ADC panto in a couple of days, and was really not expecting to see this type of audience interaction in this comedy-horror show, but it was a brilliant addition. And the fake audience interactions with Dom Andrew were among my favourite parts of the show. Dom’s performance in general was fantastic, and his chemistry with Frankie was incredible.

Image credits: Jenny Jones

This show was exceptionally done and ingeniously written. The script, the actors, the lights, the music, the minimalistic set all came together flawlessly. From existential crises to jokes about bad eyesight, this show has everything. It is so unexpected, which makes it so great.

Lonely Stupid Violent is a stunning show and absolutely deserved the loud cheering and standing ovation it received from the amazed Corpus Playroom audience. I am slightly disappointed that it’s only a one-night stand, and hope the show is performed again.

This is a masterpiece.

5/5

Lonely Stupid Violent was showing at the Corpus Playroom on Tuesday 26th November.