Damian Callinan is Babysitting
Damian Callinan has struck on a versatile premise for his show “Damian Callinan is Babysitting”. Damian is the babysitter and the audience are his ‘babysittees’. Taken by surprise that this babysitting job entails looking after “forty billion” kids and a giant two dimension baby in the cellar called Louise, Damian sets about the task with gusto. The set up provides a platform for Damian to introduce several “guests” during the course of the show as he tends to Louise.
The guests, all played by Damian himself, included Naughty Rodney, the kid from next door who is almost primordial in his insane energy and always promising dire consequences to his actions. Naughty Rodney was an immediate favourite with the audience (apart from one little boy who got a bit frightened at the end and started to cry). Also making an appearance are a Norwegian Street performer with questionable balloon animal skills, Phil the fifth wiggle who sings a song about the harsh realities of life as a butterfly, and local favourite Nathan Houlihan with one of his choose your own adventure stories.
The different characters are denoted by a simple costume changes, a different hat or wig. The conviction of the characters comes from Damian’s considerable skill in transforming himself into these different persona’s, with Nathan Houlihan being a particular standout here.
Damian’s background as a teacher shows through in this performance as he relates to the kids on a level they can understand without ever being patronising. This is an energetic performance from Damian who handles the flow well, dealing with the unpredictability of the kids responses and actively inviting their involvement. The only time the energy saps a little is at the ending, which falls away a little at the moment and doesn’t adequately resolve the show as yet.
This really is a great show for anyone. Like watching The Muppets or some of the better quality cartoons on telly, this show appeals to kids but also works for adults on another level. It’s really refreshing to be amongst kids in such a high energy atmosphere. Children are forthcoming in a way adults never are, and there’s nothing quite like being surrounded by a bunch of kids yelling “NAUGHTY RODNEY! NAUGHTY RODNEY!...” at the tops of their lungs to really refresh your soul. If at any point you find yourself suffering from ‘festival fatigue’ I highly recommend you check out this or one of the other quality kids shows to recharge your batteries. And if you’ve got kids, you can’t go wrong with “Damian Callinan is Babysitting”.
For booking details go to Damian Callinan is Babysitting