In his latest show at Soho Theatre, comedian Joz Norris energetically distils his approach to pursuing futile creative choices, blending philosophy with silly jokes. The performance explores the choice to make extravagantly silly art, and is itself extravagantly silly.
Norris presents himself as an unhinged, self-absorbed guru figure, imparting life lessons ahead of the grand unveiling of his life's work. He discusses his estranged wife and his inadequacies as a family man, along with snippets of his career as a comedian, actor and magician. A dialogue with his erratic AI girlfriend recalls the controlling, collapsing style of Rik Mayall.
The show addresses big questions about the futility of the niche creative's life, asking whether weird artists are truly weird or simply showing a different way of being. While some moments feel strenuous or for-its-own-sake, the extreme dottiness is backed up by good jokes, twisty philosophy and a highly energetic performance.
Overall, the show constitutes a curiously rousing defence of experimental art-making in a conformist, capitalist world, even at its most offputtingly wacky.
