Lawrence Leung’s Part-time Detective Agency

by Elyce Phillips

In past comedy festival shows, we have seen Lawrence Leung breakdance, solve Rubik’s cubes and teach us about the many benefits of jetpacks. Now, taking inspiration from Jason Schwartzman’s character in ‘Bored to Death’ and the BBC’s reboot of Sherlock Holmes, Leung has decided to try his hand at becoming a detective. The resulting hour of comedy has as many twists, turns and surprises as any Raymond Chandler novel.

Leung impresses with his well-honed skills of deduction – well, he was outwitted by a couple of audience members on this occasion, but assured us all that he usually gets it right – and after a failed attempt to find cases online a la Jonathan Ames, Leung turns to a great unsolved mystery of his youth. As a team of detective assistants, we learn about tells and interrogation as we all attempt to find the culprit. When it comes to the narrative content of the show, the less said the better. Some of the best moments of the show really need to be a surprise. I can’t stress that enough. If you see this show (and you should), don’t go spoiling it!

The night I attended, the room was sold out and the atmosphere was wonderful. Leung has a great conversational style that really draws you in. There’s a little audience participation, but it’s always in the spirit of fun – even if the couple he got up on stage were terribly nervous. His use of multimedia is slick and adds to the show in a wonderful way.  The ‘Law & Order’ sound effect was used effectively and with remarkable restraint.

‘Part-Time Detective Agency’ is smart, charming and very, very funny – everything that we’ve come to expect from a Lawrence Leung festival show. If you’re a fan of his past work, you really don’t want to miss this one.

Lawrence Leung’s Part-Time Detective Agency is on at the Swiss Club until April 21.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/part-time-detective-agency-lawrence-leung-s