Paul Currie @ Heroes, The Hive
No-one has recovered from Paul Currie's last show, but he's back on dazzling form again
Paul Currie is a man completely in tune with his audience, refusing to stop until every single drop of laughter has been squeezed from their bodies. Make no mistake, this is his audience – from the moment you enter the room, he endears himself so beautifully that you are willing to fulfil his every bizarre command, whether being told where to sit, to drink lemon juice or to spread butter across an ironing board. His latest show FFFFFFFMILK! promises to be a highlight for anyone who would dare see it (yes, there is audience participation; no, it is not mean-spirited).
Infusing the banally stupid with a thoughtful brilliance, Currie can take a single word and stretch it out into a heartbreaking three-act play. Routines with teddy bears, seemingly about nothing, turn into strange surrealist operas. It impossible not to feel enamoured by his presence on stage – who else could have the audience in stitches by simply eating a bowl of cornflakes? "Adults have lost their imagination," he proclaims as the audience dance around and pass one of his props across the room. It’s safe to say that, at least for this hour, the adults have been given a small sliver of their imagination back.
Paul Currie: FFFFFFFMILK!, Heroes @ The Hive (Cave), 5-28 Aug (not 10, 17 & 24), 7.40 pm, £5/PWYW