Showing @ Pleasance Dome, 5-29 August (not 16th) @ 20:00
With literally thousands of acts at the Fringe and only so many hours in a day, it can be a genuine struggle trying to figure out what’s really worth spending your time and money on. This is heightened when it comes to comedy and particularly stand-ups, which can always be relied upon to be ten-a-penny. So landing tickets to see Perrier Award winner Scott Capurro with streams of rave reviews under his belt has all the assurances of an hour well spent; one that promises bragging rights amongst all of your most cultured acquaintances for years to come.
But far from bragging rights, a visit to see Mrs Doubtfire star Capurro in his latest show, Who Are the Jocks?, delivers little more than an awkward boredom that leaves both the audience and the stand-up himself looking at their watches, wishing away the painfully prolonged minutes. Infamous for his close-to-the-knuckle humour, his audience would be foolish not to expect to be at least a little offended during the course of the set. There’s nothing wrong with distasteful humour per se – and indeed there are plenty of hugely successful risqué acts out there – but the problem here is that there seems to be no attempt at connecting Capurro’s bizarre comments with anything remotely funny. Outlandish statements such as “Muslims need to cheer up” are slipped in with no connection to the rest of his set, and fail to be backed-up with any kind of joke.
Nobody wants to watch a so-called professional with no less that seventeen years’ experience under his belt squirm under the glare of the stage lights. With all the racism, absent jokes and a poorly-constructed script, the thing that most defines Who Are the Jocks? is that it’s horrendously uncomfortable. Don’t waste your time or your money; it’s just not funny.
The most cringe worthy thing is that he did this act in a warm up gig in Islington in front of 12 people who paid a ill spent fiver, two of which walked out mid set. Either this guy is trying to make a genius point about how tragic an ageing comic’s demise can be, or he clearly thinks a lack of favourable response from his audience is their issue and not his. Either way, he is welcome to my fiver… Never have I been so assured that a ranting, ageing gay with little more to say for himself than the bitter ramblings of a world weary has been is a sight behold… If only to assure yourself that your life really isn’t that bad.
Happy retirement Scott. Try to enjoy it.
He hasn’t improved. Made the mistake of parting with £7 at the fringe this year to see his utterley brainless, cheap, unfunny shock comedy. Four of us walked out after 10 minutes, approximately 10 minutes longer than we should have stayed. Vile human being. Fortunately lots of other clever and genuinely funny people made up for his…..blaaaaaaaaa. please retire…..please please please