Jazz Emu’s You Shouldn’t Have leaves you with three important questions:
What the hell did I just watch?
Why do I love it?
And how do I get another hit of that?
If you’re not familiar with JE’s work, you won’t know what to expect in this hour of comedy, music and dance. And that’s fine, because some strange surprises in life should be welcomed with open arms. JE blends songs from his released comedy–music albums to deliver a solo sketch show told using multimedia. A large screen depicts video snippets and key lyrics but is also an instrument to move the story forward, such as displaying his father’s threatening video calls (with brilliant use of age-changing filters). His commitment to character is undeniable – you’re not sure where Jazz Emu ends and the actor playing him begins. In fact, you’ll leave still not sure what his actual speaking accent sounds like.
After the character and context are set up, we learn that JE has precisely 42 minutes to get himself un-cancelled by the Scandinavian Goblin community and win back the love of his formerly adoring fans the world over. Why does he have fans? Oh, because not only is he a skilled singer and multi-instrumentalist with fabulous dance moves and fashion sense, but also because he’s one of the nicest guys out there who regularly donates to Goblin charities that totally aren’t fronts for arms dealers supplying to terrorist organisations. He’s also ‘two per cent sexier’ than he first appears, which helps.
A huge shout-out must go to JE’s tech team and their slick coordination. Even though JE dabbles in improvised humour, he and his tech team don’t lose a single beat in the complex delivery of the show. The only slight issue is logistics. The layout of the venue is such that if you’re not seated in the centre rows, you’ll miss out on the effort that’s gone into creating this multimedia experience. Also, the sound quality could have been slightly improved since the affected enunciation of the character, especially in song, makes some parts harder to understand.
In life, we’ll come across a rare few people who’ll make us wonder how exactly their brain works because they operate on an entirely different plane – that is Jazz Emu, in short. A bizarre mix of comedy and music to equally laugh and vibe to, this is one ‘flaming hot magma at the centre of Planet Funk’.