In his show Comedian? Steele Saunders tells the story of his attempts to win the affections of a girl and how he started in stand up. Those hoping for a master class in entering the world stand up comedy will be sorely disappointed as that side of the story only gets minimal coverage; most of the tale details his dealings with the ladies along with other drunken misadventures.
A fair bit of the material in this show were stories and jokes that Steele has been telling in the comedy rooms of Melbourne over the past year or so. For the most part he had weaved them into a coherent storyline however there was the odd bit that was obviously crowbarred in. He may have been able to pass these off as asides but he often didn’t create clear and logical segues to and from them. On opening night he flailed about trying to find a suitably amusing way of closing the show which resulted in a rambling conclusion. This may have been a result of the procrastination that was an undercurrent in most of his tales but I’m sure it will be addressed as the season continues.
Steele has created an intriguing stage persona for himself with an odd mix of personality traits which is probably Steele just being himself rather than portraying a “Showman”. He is a self confessed cynical and grumpy guy but this is tempered by his slacker side as he shows a lot of restraint. Aside from the odd shouty bit, he doesn’t get too fired up about anything and merely makes the odd snide comment. Add a liberal dose of self deprecation and you have a quite complex character.
The past five years on the circuit have allowed Steele to become a polished performer. His delivery and timing was spot on and he had a number of tricks up his sleeve to milk every laugh out of a line. His hilarious off the cuff comments and friendly interaction with the punters were handy skills in a room such as this where the comings and goings of punters were rather disruptive. A couple of minor quibbles were the constant brushing back of his hair (I’m sure the obsessive compulsives in the crowd were climbing the walls) and regularly taking a sip of a beverage a couple of words into a sentence (I’m sure it’s a device to build anticipation but it disrupts the flow considerably).
This was a solid and hilarious hour of stand up storytelling that kept the punters in stitches throughout. He is a performer that appeals to punters in their early thirties who are either still partying hard or have just left that phase behind and can laugh in sympathy.
Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.