Rohan Harry
Thanks for the ADD
Higher Ground (Projection Room)
Tue 13 March
until Sun 25 March


Journeying into the world of MySpace, local boy Rohan Harry whirled through his set in around 35 minutes in a mixed performance. Appearing quite nervous early on, Harry never quite settled the nerves although this did enhance the sheer craziness of the melodramatic characters he portrayed. Beginning his act without any character role, Harry mysteriously introduced the MySpace setting for the evening's performance, and went straight for the jokes. That's his style - just telling straight-out punch-line jokes, avoiding the observational technique that points out the absurd. Out of character, this was a bit take-it-or-leave it; some jokes good, some cold.

His first character, a loud and brash comedy teacher/motivator, was...loud and brash. The jokes were so-so, but led on well to the short film the character featured in, which featured some hilarious slap-stick (wardrobe department receiving big laughs). The second character, the geeky 'Spam' was much better. More bizarre and hence more amusing as a character, Harry's material also proved stronger, with the laughs getting longer and stronger.

Another two short comedy videos featured, with a whole range of comedians across the festival adding their two cents to how well Harry's comedy motivator had helped them. Some very funny comments featured (Mad Dog Malcolm Cummings, for example) whilst there were a few bigger names, like Greg Fleet, who weren't so flash.

All up, an entertaining effort that with a touch more polish could see Harry going places.

Steven Williams