Friday, 20 October 2000

Huge by Jez Butterworth , Oct 20, 2000


By Mossrat at Athenaeum II until October 21, 2000
Reviewer: Kate Herbert

If you've ever contemplated a career in stand-up comedy, think again. Be an accountant. be anything else. It's too hard. The two characters in Jez Butterworth's play, Huge, are proof.

Warren and Clarke (Justin Ratliffe, Mike McLeish) are two aspiring comedians who move into a flat in London, write a comedy double act and sit waiting for the phone to ring for their first try-out gig.

We never know whether their material is any good. We never hear it.We see them writing, giggling at their own jokes, bickering and despairing when their first radio try-out is edited out of the BBC show.

The fragile egos of comics are at the core of this narrative. They are liable to spontaneously combust at any moment - and their relationship certainly does.

Butterworth's writing is funny, John Paul Hussey's direction is swift and both actors are strong although they shout too much.

By Kate Herbert

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