By Luke Simmons
The evening commenced with Patrick’s first character coming onto the stage providing a definition of chaos theory. From there, everyone at the Tuxedo Cat knew that they were going to be in for a crazy and unique one-man show.
Miller used a multitude of characters throughout the hour with each appearing on the stage in rapid succession. In terms of the key themes and storyline, it wasn’t made crystal clear to the audience with Miller keeping the audience guessing about what would happen next.
A central element of the plotline revolved around Miller’s body being taken over by a Spanish speaking spirit after becoming infected by a cactus. This was followed by a series of short skits which included Miller appearing on the stage as an overly friendly butterfly, an alien wizard and as an ocker Australian – and almost everything in between. Some of the characters and character play were clearly over the top and he employed shock value and absurdity to earn laughs.
No matter how strange things got, none of Miller’s punchlines resulted in silence throughout the room. In fact, he had the small room to full capacity and everyone seemed to have their favourite moments. The loudest laughs were reserved for a skit involving a character which resembled the YouTube sensation “Trent from Punchy” who mistook directions from his Father about how he was going to make his fortune in Western Australia. Miners love performance art don’t they?
The characters were performed brilliantly by Miller throughout the course of the show but the narrative seemed hard to follow for the uninitiated. Miller did finish strongly by re-introducing the alien wizard character who provided some thought provoking context to the story. In fact, he made his point crystal clear.
Patrick Miller’s Chaos is on at the Tuxedo Cat
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/chaos-patrick-miller