Marty Gleeson's Dog Ear is a worthy winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards best newcomer prize, delivering a convincing piece of art through deliberate, fully committed performance.
'Dog ear' refers to an accidental folded corner next to Gleeson's work in her art school showcase. She went to art school, of course, though as she explains, art school in Limerick is for the same kids who had a smoking area outside their school disco, just the ones who could draw a horse. The lesson: don't leave anything to chance - they'll notice.
A show performed with total conviction
Everything in this show is very deliberate and performed with conviction. There is no "oh I need some stronger material there" or "haha I never know how that bit's going to go". That's not to say every part fully lands with the audience, by any means, but it is the show as it was intended.
To see a performer commit to the bit, particularly in a funeral scene (and if you're trying to guess how, you're wrong), may be unrivalled at this year's festival. It pays off with what may be its most brilliant extended joke. No spoilers.
Dry delivery and surreal scenes
Gleeson refers to having always had a deeper voice, which lends itself to her dry and unflinching delivery, ever serious despite the content of many scenes. Fans of Stevie Martin or Joe Wilkinson should get this humour.
The show had the reviewer laughing out loud more than most shows seen at this year's Fringe. That is some going, considering many of the 56-capacity crowd in Bunker One at the Pleasance were together on a work night out, seemingly against their will, incongruously scattered around the room for colleagues from an interior designs firm. As comedy goes, this isn't really entry level; some fresh-faced lads didn't stand a chance.
There's time travel, a 183-year-old David Attenborough, and a fully played out RTE News broadcast. In the hands of another comic, this is wacky silliness. In Marty Gleeson's hands, this is art. As even the young boys in the smoking area know: respect art.
See Marty Gleeson at Soho Theatre, 5-10 October.
