Nathan Penlington: Uri and Me

Nathan Penlington does himself no favours in choosing to perform Uri and Me off-mic. A low-key offering, the show essentially amounts to a condensed biography of the titular Mr Geller, a suitably ludicrous figure for comedy. However, as the performer attempts to draw parallels between himself and his childhood hero, he loses an already baffled audience to protracted silences, indecision and a general lack of authority.

Most likely a response to the intimate nature of the 'Wee Coo' venue, Penlington's presentation is astonishingly easygoing. Performing on a stage littered with books and VHS on Geller, he covers the onset of the man's powers, his rise to fame and the various cash-ins that followed. Props are bookmarked with bent cutlery and a fondue fork is used as a pointer during slide shows. Penlington's knowledge of Geller is impressive, while his tone is dry and ironic. Many good lines are allowed to go over the audience's heads, however, due to his ineffectual delivery. Indeed, the show feels so detached from the audience that the introspective Penlington appears to be staging it for his own sake, having never intended it for mass consumption. A more forceful tone would surely complement this bizarre lecture.