The Edinburgh smash-hit character comic comes to London.
A lady with a loud, throaty laugh has saved me tonight. I’m at Adam Riches’ Manthology show in the Leicester Square Theatre lounge and for those of you who haven’t been before it’s a tiny room, which, at its maximum capacity, seats about 50 people. Riches is famous for his rambunctious character shows that rely heavily on audience participation, and while his quick wits, good humour and infectious silliness clearly make the show, the strength of its success can often hinge on the participants. If they’re willing to make a fool of themselves and don’t mind the limelight it helps to create a funnier show. Now, I’m all for playing the fool but less keen on the limelight. Put me in front of a crowd and I go bright red and lose the ability of coherent speech. Which is fairly tedious for all involved. So I plump for a seemingly inconspicuous spot, hidden slightly by a pillar.
Fast forward 15 minutes and Riches, in character as Connor Connorson, a seedy Australian bartender, has requested the house lights go up and is scouring the room for contestants for his made-up gameshow ‘Play Your Tits Right.’ Gulp. “I can see lots of people looking to the left and staring at the floor. Especially you, the girl hiding behind the pillar.” Luckily for me, he astutely surmises that a woman in the front row with a loud laugh might make a better candidate for some interactive fun and gets her up instead. Phew.
I needn’t have worried. Riches is an expert audience handler and none of his requests are ever humiliating. While he won’t take no for an answer, his good-natured approach means most crowd members involved in his skits adopt a ‘what the hell’ approach. We get some girl-on-girl action, udder milking, centaur riding and a game of ‘Who Has The Hairiest Chest?’ (otherwise known as 'Play Your Tits Right'). Sounds fun doesn’t it?
Since he started performing his character shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, Riches has enjoyed plenty of glowing reviews and packed out venues. From Victor Legit, the DVD piracy detective to Pierce Brosnan the Centaur, his characters are always larger than life alpha males, as the title of his 2008 show suggests. Some, like the one-dimensional big game hunter O’Hara, are weaker than others but his overriding charisma, witty asides and sense of fun never fails to pull off a show with aplomb.
This current London run, called Manthology, sees the best bits from his last three Edinburgh productions amalgamated into an hour-long show. As a result, there’s little character development to be found here but we get to concentrate on Riches’ best talents, his off-the-cuff wit and ability to conjure up surreal, extraordinarily funny visuals using the audience as props.
The show closes with Riches galloping around stage (with help from Idiots of Ants’ Ben Wilson) in half a horse costume dressed as the Centaur Piece Brosnan. “Right, who wants to feed me some grain?” booms Pierce. I’m surprised to find myself wishing I was in the front row.
Adam Riches: Manthology is at the Leicester Square Theatre Lounge until Sunday 15th May.
Read Spoonfed's interview with Adam Riches
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