Dave Bushell is a man on a search for a story, he declares at the opening of his new show Let the Kid Go. Not just a good story, but a tale that will stand out proudly alongside that of Alfie Patten, the 13-year old father. His search for the perfect adventure takes him from the mountains overlooking Barcelona to being a winning contestant on Deal or No Deal, and he brings the audience along with him as he weaves together many different threads from his life into an evening that is confronting, sometime shocking, and always hilarious.
Bushell’s stage presence is the best thing about the show – he’s confident, charismatic, energetic and immensely likeable. This last trait is perhaps the most important, as some of his stories do not exactly put him in the best light – something he points out more than once himself. Whether he is retroactively prostituting himself for a beer in Edinburgh, or, well, getting maced by prostitutes on Las Ramblas, Dave’s friendly banter makes you feel like you just sat down at the bar next to the most entertaining friend you have and he’s unloading yet another wild tale onto you.
Which is, in a sense, also the show’s weakest link. While Bushell uses this structure to keep the laughs consistently coming, the tale itself doesn’t always justify the telling. A good portion of the show is dedicated to detailing the greatest drug trip the author had ever been on, and, unless you were there at the time, there’s not much entertainment to be found listening about someone else’s high. There is a thin thread of narrative running through the show about trying to win back an ex-girlfriend, but because her character is never really outlined in anything other than negative terms, I never really felt what was driving the story forward, never properly connected with the sense of loss that was trying to be evoked at the climax of the piece.
I’ve no doubt that Bushell’s search for a truly great tale will continue, and will eventually form the basis of a great comedy show – I’m just not sure this was the one to do it. But if you fancy an hour of laughter in the hands of a talented and amiable storyteller, then this show comes well recommended.
For more info and booking details go to Dave Bushell – Let The Kid Go