By Colin Flaherty
In the years before TicTok became the dominant social media platform, people like Conk (aka Connor Dariol) were using Instagram to post short form video. His account, frequentshit, became a sounding board for all his ideas and Frequentshit Live! is some variation of an in person version. With a specific time period (2016 to 2022) and no new content being up loaded (he is locked out of the account), this a fascinating internet time capsule. It’s an ambitious project but the resulting show is all over the place, probably by design.
As the name implies, this show is very much Conk throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks, a constant stream of ideas that land with varying degrees of success. He gives us plenty of puns, a wide array of silly visual gags, amusing musical parodies and lots of non sequiturs. Some really clever bits are fighting to be seen and heard above the maelstrom and they reward those who can find them. Things slow down a little with some “artist laid bare” (not quite literally) segments describing his Covid experience and showing that it isn’t all internet wackiness.
He is very much a slave to the video feed as the performance is pre-programmed, continually showing posts from the Instagram feed with numerous prompts for him to comment on, interact with the material or just talk over it. There are regularly multiple things happening at once, making it difficult to follow everything if you’re not adept at multitasking. Older pop culture references take some work on your behalf to recognise them so often by the time you manage to make the connection and get the joke, the next segment is upon you. The bombastic soundtrack that assaults your ears certainly doesn’t help clarify things.
Conk throws himself into this performance with gusto and a stage overflowing with props and costumes keeps things visually interesting and propels the show forward. There is a clowning element to this piece that requires a rowdy crowd who are up for playing with him. He regularly seeks opinions and gives punters various objects to hopefully add to the insanity. This artist is unafraid to look foolish as we manipulate him for our amusement.
This certainly is not a show for everyone. Some will run away screaming finding it a bit impenetrable. Others will relate and let the chaos flow over them. If this sounds like your bag, gather a group of like-minded friends and strap in for the visual and aural assault.
Frequentshit Live! is on at The Motley Bauhaus until April 21
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2024/shows/frequentshit-live