Original comedy with a compelling edge
“It can actually get quite suffocating living in the perfect world.”
Olly Hawes
Olly Hawes tells quirky stories which amuse and involve with dark undercurrents as his creative stream takes us off into other parts of his imagination. What we have here is comedy with richly imaginative elements.
With his tousled curly hair and penetrating blue eyes, I found I couldn’t take my eyes off him on stage. He wears a blood stained T shirt like one of those in the first episode of a Murder Mystery, but how did it get that way? He has bare feet despite the riff on how to choose a pair of socks.
At the Riverside Studios, this is the second time we have reviewed him this year. At Edinburgh he was compelling, urging us to rebook but his show is original, with different situations and predicaments without losing the psychological edge. This revision gives him a freshness from the lack of repetition.
F**king Legend is about masculinity and the preposterous that actually happens, engendering reflection and guilt. It is about a man with a girlfriend and two children, embarking abroad on a stag do, who meets a woman.
The description of sex with the woman, “You can do to me whatever you want,” has Olly comprehensively describing the visual clichés. Cut to nature’s images of orgasmic film sex. His descriptions were so powerful, I thought I could see the scenes on the rear wall. I wanted to join in with the crashing of waves on a beach but instead kept seeing the terrible floods in Malaga.
The second half of his show has a surreal aspect, there is a chain link fence, a train journey through a tunnel and driving along the coast there are cages with people in them. This futuristic nightmare is delivered poetically and the punch line comes unexpectantly.
Earlier in the show a long section has reminded us of the woes of the world, the wars, the environment, acknowledged but not dwelt upon. There is plenty of movement in this show adding to the tension and excitement.
Don’t miss Olly Hawes’ descriptive writing, his high flying thoughts and internal monologues. You will laugh and laugh and best of all, think! Superb!
Production Notes
F**king Legend
Written and performed by Olly Hawes
Cast
Starring:
Olly Hawes
Information
Running Time: One hour 10 minutes without an interval
Booking to 21st December
Various Dates
Theatre:
Riverside Studios
Website: riversidestudios.co.uk
Rail/Tube: Hammersmith
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge
at the Riverside Studios
on 14th November 2024