FESTIVAL COMEDY | Come Heckle Christ FESTIVAL COMEDY | Come Heckle Christ
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CHRIST KNOWS
Josh Ladgrove straps himself to a cross every night before fi elding all kinds of questions. Jay Richardson wonders if this Australian satirist could be the Fringe’s saviour
O f all the returning acts at this year’s Fringe, Jesus Christ might appear the most unlikely. Of course, Come Heckle Christ doesn’t feature the real Jesus any more than Jim Davidson: No Further Action is the work of the devil. Australian comedian Josh Ladgrove certainly has the ideal hair and beard for renaissance portraits of the Messiah but even he couldn’t have foreseen the howls of blasphemy and outrage the show incited earlier this year.
incident at
After playing without the Melbourne Comedy Festival, a court case and bomb threats accompanied its arrival in Adelaide. Ladgrove insists these were blown out of proportion and that he hired security only as a precaution, reasoning that ‘if you’re challenging someone’s deep belief, you’re going to piss a few people off along the way. I had to be comfortable with that, so I took the high road. I wasn’t mean, I didn’t treat them like idiots. What I was doing was artistic. Or at least it was just for fun, a parody.’
Hanging on a cardboard cross every night ‘physically hurts’ and improvising responses for an hour is ‘incredibly mentally taxing. But most people just take to it. Even if it’s not the funniest thing they’ve seen that night, it’s so different to your conventional comedy show and the participatory nature of it really excites them.’ He doubts the hour is going to provoke as much controversy in Edinburgh, where he’s also appearing as his character Dr Professor Neal Provenza. He’s hoping for decent word-of- mouth: ‘people telling their friends “you can yell shit at Jesus!” But that’s in the lap of the gods. Lord knows, I’ve tried and failed in the past with shows to contrive coverage.’ 42 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2014
Occasionally while on the cross, someone will ask him a theological or philosophical poser. And once or twice he’s been thrown by someone telling him their uncle died of cancer, forcing him to break character, ‘essentially myself with a softer voice and calm demeanour. I’ve had to apologise and remind them that I’m just playing Jesus, which has led to some nice moments with the audience.’
Nevertheless, he’s now that little bit better prepared for such difi culties. ‘Although it can be cathartic for the audience, most things I get are fairly secular, ranging from l ippant things like asking me who my favourite character is in Star Wars or Game of Thrones to “what were you doing for those three days?” Or “what do you think of gay marriage?” Or “why do you let kids die in Africa?”’ Intriguingly, although Ladgrove does his best to make it as funny as he can, he’s essentially passive. ‘It’s more about the audience who self-censor as an organism; it’s fantastic to watch. They tacitly decide what’s acceptable amongst themselves.’
He envisages performing a variation of Come Heckle Christ in the future as much-derided Australian treasurer Joe Hockey, but he rel ects that there’s still plenty of life in the original. ‘There’s still a sense of reverence. When I’m on the crucii x in the gown and the smoke machine comes on, it does feel strangely ethereal. I don’t feel like I have creative licence to shout back “shut up you dickhead!” The odd barb aside, I’m quite soft and take most of it.’
Come Heckle Christ, Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 2–24 Aug (not 11, 18), 10.20pm, £7.50–£9.50 (£6.50–£8). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £6.
In the maze that is the Edinburgh Fringe, sometimes the best plan for an act is to simply think up a controversial title in order to sell tickets. Gavin Webster clearly couldn’t come up with one, so the popular Geordie comic brings us, quite literally, A Controversial Title in Order to Sell Tickets (The Stand III & IV, 31 Jul–24 Aug, 5.50pm).
Other shows have certainly gone for the Daily Mail’s jugular (assuming that paper knows the Fringe or Edinburgh actually exist) with Dangeri eld: Sex with Children (The Hive, 4–23 Aug, 9pm) a sure-i re headline-maker while Josh Howie should invoke intrigue and outrage with AIDS: A Survivor’s Story (Canons’ Gait, 2–23 Aug, 2.25pm). Scottish comics Viv Gee and John Scott offer the wonderfully profane Anything’s Better Than These Cunts (Beehive Inn, 3–21 Aug, 5.10pm) while Kitten Killers (Underbelly, Bristo Square, 30 Jul–25 Aug, 2.45pm) almost doesn’t bear thinking about. And Foul Play: The Fucking Nasty Show (Pleasance Dome, 1–23 Aug, 11pm) is Comedy 4 Kids in reverse as stand-ups are invited to spill their spleens with the most hardcore material they possess in their armoury. ■ Full show details at list.co.uk/festival.