Showing @ Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh until Sun 24 Aug @ 21:00
Mr B ‘dreamed the dream of making hip-hop gentlemanly’, and in the process created something which goes against the very foundations on which it is based. The main problem lies with the show’s premise to disregard “real” hip-hop and provide a “posh” alternative. The audience is thus required to have a good knowledge of the genre in order to get its many references, yet the songs Mr B performs are so far from the subtlety, passion and craft of hip-hop, it’s difficult to imagine anyone with a real appreciation of the genre appreciating his show. The show’s self-awareness of this fact is not enough to bring any depth to it.
Although there is some comic value in watching a moustached man play the banjolele and sing about penises, the songs are repetitive and boring. Mr B places himself in between the genre of hip-hop and that acoustic variety of witty musical ballads, yet lacks the verbal virtuosity of both, falling short of the cosmic genius of Chester P and appearing as a pale imitation of Flight of the Conchords.