On the second of December Matt Elsbury performed his fourth annual “Matt Elsbury vs the Music World” in two successive sessions. Five squirrels were amongst the audience that night and two of them have chipped in with their thoughts on the show…
Colin Flaherty
In what has become an annual event, Matt Elsbury has looked over the “popular music” (how this stuff becomes popular is always a mystery to me!) for the year 2005, dissected it with a sledgehammer & presented a comedy show. Due to the great response last year (I squeezed in at the back of the room in ‘04), Matt performed two sets, which were filled with punters. At least this time there was enough room in the theatre that support act Man Bites God could actually stay in the room to witness the rest of the show!
The show was opened by Man Bites God who tortured Matt with bad puns & performed a couple of songs that weren’t really relevant to Matt’s show, but were entertaining nonetheless. Geraldine Quinn also belted out a tune at the halfway point & seemed a bit flustered (she admitted getting a little tipsy between shows), but performed her song with gusto.
Being an alternative music fan, I must admit that I don’t listen to much popular music at all, thus the majority of the songs & artists referenced in Matt’s format of playing a sample of the song in question & ridiculing part of the lyrics is able to put the item in some sort of understandable context that prior knowledge isn’t essential.
A fellow long time punter commented to me that a fault with this show is that Matt doesn’t really take the time to write a witty joke to pull apart a song/artist like he used to. I have noticed this myself in that he often relies on the fact that the lyric is often so bizzare or just plain wrong that just playing it is enough. In Matt’s own words “Sometimes you don’t need to write a joke. All you need to do is point”.
There was also projected footage used throughout the show. Particularly entertaining was the opening title sequence complete with Matt’s booming voiceover.
Overall, it was a fun show, that filled my “comedy guilty pleasure” quota. I’m glad that Matt listens to this music so the rest of us don’t have to.
Szeling Po
Matt Elsbury’s show at the ever eccentric Glitch Bar (is it a cinema? is it a bar?) takes the format of a TV show. It’s like he’s the host of The Matt Elsbury Show and this is his Xmas special where he looks back at the year of pop music, based he informs us, on watching Rage video clips. Most of the humour is aimed at the ridiculousness of pop music, the lyrics in particular, all illustrated by video clips and soundbites from songs, and is received with great enthusiasm by the audience. A popular theme for everyone there – except myself. Fickle pop lyrics are too easy a target, I like my comedians to work a little harder, and I always feel a little uncomfortable with comedy that involves a collective snobbery.
Matt’s delivery, reminiscent of my Year 10 English teacher crossed with Rove, aids this impression that we are all right and consumers of popular culture are wrong. Interspersed with Matt’s lecture are performances by Man Bites God and Geraldine Quinn, who bring the tone of the show up a bit with their show. MBG show their musicianship by singing a beautifully crafted round about getting drunk; Geraldine has a ditty about how un-rock’n’roll she is. Both are pleasant, and although not greatly inspiring, are a welcome reprieve from the headline act.