Harley Breen’s The Kingswood and I tells the love story between a man and his shit car. A car named Margery with long flowing bog patches, a blown muffler and lovely poo-brown paint.
Opening to the sound of a radio flicking through stations and with a garage door set, there’s a great degree of theatricality to this show. Harley’s characterisations and reenactments give a huge amount of energy to his stories. His enthusiastic in your face delivery keeps the audience belly laughing for the entirety of the show with some really clever humour.
Taking us through his life with Margery, from the purchase through roadworthy inspections and eventually to Margery’s death, Harley’s passion for his ‘lovely steed’ is infectious. Apart from his love the Kingswood, Harley also explores other modes of transport, including hilarious encounters on public transports with both a ‘clutch of geeks’ and also ‘the public transport guy’. There’s also some incredibly funny interjections with road rage announcements.
To look at both Harley’s 6’4” frame and the subject matter of the show, it would be easy to dismiss this as ‘blokey’ humour, and while most of the show is accessible at that level, there’s a whole lot of depth to the comedy as well. Harley’s not actually a ‘manly man’ – he’d prefer to bake a cake than tinker with a car, and there’s a lot of sensitivity and emotion behind his tales.
The Kingswood and I is an incredibly accomplished piece of theatrical stand up, showing off a great amount of talent that kept the audience laughing loudly for almost the entirety of the show.
The Kingswood and I runs Tuesday through Sunday until April 29th. See the comedy festival website for bookings and further details.