@ New Town Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sun 30 Aug 2015 @ 17.30
When an alien comes to earth and examines our society, sometimes you get David Bowie; sometimes you get Jeff Bridges; and sometimes you get a guy with a bubble obsession who looks like Buster Keaton drawn by Dr Seuss.
Performer Janne Raudaskoski spends most the show with a split personality, as he interacts cleverly with two pre-recorded versions of himself on separate screens.
The show starts slowly and for the first twenty minutes not a great deal happens, apart from some mildly amusing, if repetitive, interactions between the three Jannes. When it picks up speed, the momentum and invention build, with Janne displaying not only his clone clowning, but disappearing into the dressing up box to play a variety of characters in filmed sequences.
The concept of an alien looking at our world with fresh eyes is pretty heavy handed and didactic. Our consumption, greed, capitalism and love of war are experienced by the extraterrestrial visitor and disapproved of, but some, not all, of these experiences provide moments of fun.
As the show reaches its climax there’s a release of energy with glitter cannons, music, aeronautic acrobatics and motorcycle stunts all building to a bizarre conclusion featuring Michael Jackson and a host of bubbles – of the soapy variety not the chimp – including those blown by the audience who have been given their own supply.
This is a well-crafted whimsical lecture with bubbles and glitter thrown in. It’s difficult to think of target audience for this, but then the Fringe is about taking a chance.