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Eddie Perfect as Angry Eddie Piano Bar Wed 16 June It's always a worry attending shows that purport to be angry yet hilarious rants against the world we live in. They're often flaccid accounts of someone's life not being all that they really want. That's not entertainment - I can hear that at work, on the bus, at the pub. And often I'm the one doing the bitching. So when Angry Eddie took to the stage with a typical cabaret-style number - shuffling beats, pronounced double bass and restrained piano - I feared the worst. It didn't take long for this to change: Angry Eddie is actually a wonderful anti-hero; abrasive, pointed and willing to offend. The songs were all of a high standard, and if at times his singing voice wasn't overly polished, he had the sneer and the body language to make it work. Backed by a capable three-piece he raged against juice bars (the very, very funny I Want To Juice the Juice Bar Girl), John Howard (I'm Just One of John Howard's Bitches) and, in a jaunty, salsa-tinged number, Guantanamo Bay. All this, however, fell by the wayside during his Delta Goodrem moments. In one of the most inspired things I've ever seen, Eddie recited actual messages to Goodrem posted on her website by her fans after the announcement she had Hodgkin's. Pathetic puppet sock on hand, backed by a plaintive piano, their sheer inanity was amplified beyond belief. Was it nice? No. Was it funny? I've barely stopped laughing. The show finished with a poignant, sobering song on mandatory detention using the actual words of refugees. Well-delivered and pulling at the heart without really trying, it served to put the entire show - hell, our entire lives - into context. Angry Eddie's an anti-hero born of our age, with a show for our times. He's also a very clever, very funny bastard. More power to him.  |
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