By Colin Flaherty
It takes immense talent to make the subject of depression the basis for a stand up show and make it hilarious. Perri Cassie and Harrison Engstrom took to this challenge with style and a fair amount of sleight of hand. References to the depression itself were only mentioned fleetingly in a matter of fact manner which allowed the guys to concentrate on exploring various social norms that gave them the shits with lashings of self-deprecation on top.
When both performers revealed that they were in a much happier place now, it was a concern that this would lead to them downplaying the exaggerated comedic potential in misery and diminish our empathy for them, hence robbing the material of its power. Both guys however, did a great job in presenting their tales with the benefit of hindsight, giving it a sheen of comedic triumph. Both performers also comically ripped into ex partners who had done them wrong, injecting a bit of venom and spite to keep things from being an evening of sad-sack self-pity.
Each show features a guest performer introducing the proceedings with a tight five. On opening night this role was taken up by Jeremy Webb who chose to embrace the theme of the show and present a set that was heavily steeped in self-deprecation. This was despite starting things off by trying to raise the crowd’s enthusiasm and appearing like he would be a sharp contrast to the talk of depression which was expected to follow. It was an interesting tactic and he pulled it off.
Cassie began the show proper by playing a very downtrodden role. It wasn’t entirely “sad sack” territory but was of someone accepting their defeat and making fun of his ordeals. His delivery was so downplayed that it threw off the rhythm at times, resulting in slightly patchy laughs, but the underlying solid material was evident. He had plenty of hilarious ideas and got the biggest audience reactions when he dared to flirt with controversy.
By contrast Engstrom had a very upbeat stage persona that put the emphasis on being the lovable loser who often found himself in wacky scrapes. His set comprised of stories from his life that didn’t always keep the audience in hysterics but were certainly interesting enough to capture their attention and hold it for the duration. A story about an orgy is sure to pique anybody’s interest even when it kind of trails off rather than ending with a bang…as it were.
This duo, each with only a few years under their belts, demonstrated that they have the skills to present an amusing and entertaining double hander. Some fine tuning will happen along the way but even in these early stages, it’s worth checking out.
Saduation is on at the Imperial Hotel until September 21st
https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/program/event/view/da3c0ae9-c535-4cc0-a003-fb899ff40cbf