The Second Coming was an appropriate title for Jarred Keane to give his second Comedy Festival show. Aside from the literal connotation, Jarred had built a show on the topic of finding happiness, contentment and hope in today’s world with religion featuring heavily.
If a show about religion makes you want to run in the opposite direction, be assured that Jarred approached the material with plenty cynicism so it was far from the brow beating sermon that you may have been fearing. Using stories from his life (with lashings of self deprecation) as a basis, he was able to link associated religious teachings to his experiences with some nice lateral thinking and humorous lines. Being a lapsed Christian may seem to have skewed his attitude against the church somewhat but underneath the surface there was still a healthy amount of faith there, it’s just that he now questions things a lot more. He promised that he wouldn’t attack the obvious targets but when he skimmed the surface of those issues, he was able to sideswipe them with a clever joke about something similar to provide some amusing collateral damage.
In between the personal anecdotes Jarred employed a fascinating approach in which he recited a quote from a religious text or a famous individual that he could expand upon. It would provide further examination leading to debunking or the offering of a different point of view from the literal meaning. It was during these segments of the show where he conjured some fascinating theories and, although it was a little patchy at times, managed to weave some comedy magic. Having to read the quotes from notes proved to be a little clunky but hopefully as the season progresses he will have them conveniently to hand in his memory to make things flow better.
He ended a show with character piece, a guy called Mitch who was supposed to have been reborn somehow but it wasn’t clearly explained. Perhaps he was emulating someone I didn’t recognise or this was explained in the chunk of script Jarred left out when he realized he was running late. These were a couple more opening night teething problems that are sure to get ironed out.
Jarred’s laid back and friendly personality helped a great deal in selling the material, especially when great slabs of his script were amusingly interesting rather than gut-bustingly funny. A couple of opening night mishaps revealed a quick wit that could ad lib with the best of them. The inclusion of some amusing vocal mimicry were employed to drive some jokes home, showing his talent in subtle character work.
This was an entertaining and thought provoking show that, while a little hit and miss, provided enough laughs for those who don’t take their religious beliefs too seriously.
For booking details visit the Comedy Festival website