Review: Tatterdemalion, Jackson’s Lane

Possibly the most famous example of modern clowning is Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean, an all but mute character who mumbles and gurgles but never comes close to saying anything which can be understood as he gets himself involved in all number of farcical situations. Tatterdemalion is very similar conceptually, but the problem is that the physical comedy is weirdly of the variety that a) doesn’t feature any real narrative or themes, and b) has been produced by a number of performers in the past.

There are sparks of originality in the show, including the quite scruffily dressed Tatterdemalion (Henry Maynard) surprising the audience at the beginning of the show, and an inventive re-enactment of a journey into space using an egg, before the astronaut comes undone in a ticker tape parade upon returning to Earth. But there aren’t nearly enough of them, and many of the skits are so routine and predictable that it feels almost surreal that there’s no twist or deviation at the end.

Otherwise it’s clowning 101, and that means we get to see a lot of Tatterdemalion struggling to put on clothes, indulging in a long sequence where he’s driving a car that goes nowhere, which is bizarrely then replicated a second time, while a sketch where he’s a bellhop in a hotel is only memorable because the character has no head, yet nothing else happens of any note. The show also relies heavily on audience interaction, which often means forcing the crowd to make various noises with decreasing enthusiasm.

At a rough guess, about half of the audience ended up on stage during the evening, including one individual who was dragged up to help Tatterdemalion put on boots, with the clown deliberately making it more difficult, in a sequence which was all but laugh free. He tricked the same audience member into a fake marriage proposal, and wedding, and then a pretend pregnancy, but the only hint of innovation was the fate of the baby. Even that story is subsequently undermined by this all being flimsy, lightweight fare.

Anyone expecting there to be any links between the sketches will come away sorely disappointed, as the only thing they have in common is that Tatterdemalion seems to be a gentle, slightly charming fella. Except when that’s not the case in one scenario, during which he gets twelve people on to the stage to pretend they’re on a tube train, and he’s the ticket inspector. Something that looks like fun to take part in but not to watch is when Tatterdemalion discovers one passenger doesn’t have a ticket and his response is confusingly excessive – completely at odds with everything that has happened before.

There’s a final bit of weirdness right at the end after which Tatterdemalion shrugs his shoulders to suggest that even he didn’t know the point of it, and then the show comes to a close with the biggest anti-climax of the night. It’s all truly puzzling as there were comedians acting out similar fare in silent films over a hundred years ago, so why he’s brought back these largely simplistic slices of physical comedy after all this time is perplexing. There’s nothing bad about the show, I suppose I should stress, but there’s also very little which is good either.

Written, directed and performed by Henry Maynard

Tatterdemalion is at Jackson’s Lane Theatre until Thursday 3 July.