Hailing as a being from another timeline, Alasdair Beckett-King has some spot-on comments to make about our universe. The Interdimensional ABK lets Beckett-King play off his strengths of observational comedy and multimedia. It works an utter treat. He is living proof that comedians can be funny without being contentious, and appear inventive without trying too hard.
Beckett-King’s style is one of approachability and a touch of eccentrism. He opens with a superbly animated video chronicling him as a 1980s TV hero, one of several genius multimedia moments. Flicking his long ginger hair behind his shoulders, Beckett-King has the audience howling with relatively simple jokes, ranging from a brush with politics to dabbles in music and theatre. A sequence about alternate universe film titles (with specially designed posters) is especially hilarious. His impersonations and punchlines all land as intended, in what is a sensationally professional stand-up set.
He gets the audience smiling with jokes about the difficulties that come with ginger hair. Yet not for a moment does he equate it with the oppression faced by others in worse positions than him. This is just one example of how Beckett-King consistently gets the audience laughing without regressing to pure shock factor, a testimony to the quality of his writing. All he needs to get the crowd behind him is some subversive, anecdotal moments that present something in a way we never think of it, yet somehow makes total sense. The simplicity of Beckett-King’s humour is a refreshing bliss, incorporating the expected but glorious interactions with the crowd that are so wonderfully written into his show.
Beckett-King has to be one of the Fringe’s most likeable comedians. It is a marvel to watch him strut around the stage working his galactic magic with relatively few tools. Assisted by technology but not overwhelmed by it, his set is full of observations about how our timeline is made so needlessly difficult. With The Interdimensional ABK, Beckett-King is taking time out to make our universe a little more bearable, and he encourages us all to do the same. A magnificent, wonderful and hilarious comedy exhibition.