Right now I have: polycystic kidney disease; painful lymphoedema in my lower legs; hypertension; medicinally managed severe unipolar depression; long term laryngitis; oesophagitis; abnormal thyroid; and a skin cancer awaiting removal. Compared to Adrian Calear I am the picture of perfect health.
Adrian is hard to kill. As he explains to us at the start of his show, Code Grey , his plethora of deaths/potential deaths really stack up. Adrian makes Rasputin look like a sissy. He’s the Captain Jack Harkness of the comedy industry. And his dealings with illness are not for the faint of heart.
This show documents the rise and fall and rise and fall and rise of Adrian over the last twenty years in the comedy industry, particularly in regards to his health, which has been problematic to say the least.
Adrian appears onstage clad only in a hospital gown, and I mean only. Let me put it this way, if you’re not comfortable with occasional nudity, this is not the show for you. But then if you’re not comfortable with occasional nudity, you’re probably too squeamish to deal with Adrian’s stories anyway. Tim Harris performs the duty of portraying every other character (all doctors) in Adrian’s tale. He’s the perfect public hospital doctor.
Adrian is a captivating storyteller and when this show didn’t have me laughing it had me transfixed, waiting on every word. His style is vernacular and conversational. This adds to rather than detracts from the story, as it creates a mutual and uninhibited connection between him and the audience.
I’m loathe to use the word courageous to describe this show, because it sounds patronising and like something a B grade celebrity with no experience of actual serious illness would say on the Good Friday Appeal. However this is a courageous show and it tells of courage, and that’s what makes it really cool.
I spend more than my fair share of time sitting on uncomfortable public hospital chairs for hours at a time, only to deal with a doctors who spend 90 seconds with me. If I took anything from this show it’s that these circumstance are not personal, this is not the universe punishing me. This is random, and there’s no point feeling sorry for myself, I’m never going be able to change “random” by getting angry at it. In the end, the man who cannot be killed has an incredibly uplifting and simple thing to tell us. He’s figured out what is important.
I am so glad that I didn’t miss this show. This show is gripping. In parts it’s properly upsetting, but it’s a story with, thankfully, a happy ending. And it’s funny. Dark, confronting, revealing, telling and funny. See this show.
For full booking details go to the Melbourne Comedy Festival website