Review: Night Terror, EdFringe

Let’s start with the music that is playing in the background as the audience wait, which let’s face it, is normally an indicator of the act to come. We liked it: a funky, interesting mix of tunes: ‘You’ve Got the Love’ (Florence & the Machines), ‘All the Things I’ve Done’ (The Killers) and ‘Everything is Embarrassing’ (Sky Ferreira) to name but a few. Do those titles say something about Eli’s thoughts? Who knows…

Personable and easy going, Kiwi Eli Matthewson is a natural stand up. Comfortable in a tent at the Underbelly, surrounded on two sides by the audience, he immediately makes a connection with everyone. His comedy is personal: he’s gay and in a long term relationship, although also attributes the term metrosexual to himself which means he has had other experiences (so more to amuse the audience with). There is also a definite trajectory to his narrative unlike some comics whose material is much more reactive and covers a range of stories. That’s not to say that he doesn’t involve the audience, because he does, but the title of the act: Night Terror, is chosen for a reason. He is also very funny and this past year has presented him with lots of material.

Matthewson openly admits the past 12 months have been extremely good to him financially; unlike the rest of his life. He had a shortish stint on breakfast radio (brought to an abrupt halt by an ill-advised, off the cuff remark on a red carpet event), and two reality TV series. This has enabled a series of purchases which he uses mercilessly to mock his middle class aspirations (a Frame TV anyone?) as well as some wonderfully gay and bougie garden flamingos. Then there’s burglary, strangulation, a gay cruise, which incidentally uses the same vessel as for older cruise lovers (the floor needs cleaning for different reasons though…) and thoughts as to why lesbian partners can swap sides of the bed so more easily than their hetero or gay equivalent.

I’m not about to recite his material line by line, but there is a coherent thread along with delightful self-deprecation and a happiness in the unexpected comfortable financial position he finds himself in. His partner has a ‘proper’ job though, so although they bought a house together, Matthewson still likes to identify him formally: landlord…

The ultimate night terror however, once he’s gone through the items mentioned above, refers to the possibility of alternative scenarios for death: instead of whatever you personally believe in, how about you get shown to a room with a VHS machine and are forced to watch a tape of everything people have said about you when you weren’t there? That really is terrifying.

Good news though: he’s moving to the UK.

Written by: Eli Matthewson

Night Terror plays at Edfringe until Saturday 24 August.