In the current landscape of comedy, the term “irreverent” is placed onto many pieces. It has become a shorthand to note that a show is crass and most likely vulgar. However to its plainest definition, irreverent simply means to not have proper respect; a lesser version of blasphemous or sacrilegious. Fool’s Gold is a hilarious depiction of a grave robber duo, or self-proclaimed “covert excavator”, is indeed worthy of the moniker irreverent. The play’s constant macabre jokes of death, sex, and hamsters all take place next to a grave being actively excavated.
Fool’s Gold establishes its tone during the pre-show by having a man dressed in a Charlie Brown ghost white sheet drink a four pack in front of cardboard gravestones. The ghost hid and waved at the audience in a low-budget, haunted house style as “Love Love” by Take That plays. This show is ridiculous, in a great way. Fool’s Gold‘s comedic lineage comes from classic British sketch and sit-coms like Monty Python and The Young Ones. Quick quips and non-sequiturs controlled the rhythm of laughter while also being nonsensical enough to have the audience on their toes for what the next punchline would be about. The performance that epitomizes this ethos is the show’s playwright and lead actor Malcolm Webb’s character the Assistant.
Webb’s Assistant is an incompetent and incoherent grave robber that perfectly foils the experienced covert excavator David played by Ben Whittle. Webb enters wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a backpack containing yellow dishwashing gloves, a plastic beach spade, and a first edition porno magazine. He then conducts a masterclass in buffoonery which constantly distracts Whittle’s David from his excavating endeavours. The Assistant’s quirks were the most successful bits of comedy in the production. His violent phone calls with his mother, his storied history of pet hamsters, and consistent malapropisms always got nice reactions from the audience. Webb’s Assistant was the only character to give direct asides to the audience which lends well to me being able to follow along closely to his humour.
As previously mentioned, Ben Whittle’s portrayal of David is a fantastic contrast to Webb’s clown. He is a great counterbalance to the absurdity and surprisingly did not break even at the most ridiculous moments given to him by the rest of the cast. Whittle’s David gives the audience a gateway into questioning the insanity happening around him.
Fool’s Gold did start to lose me when it became too wrapped into the story surrounding its jokes. There is a dark plot of backstabbing that looms in the background of the first half that starts to become over-explained towards the end of the play. Characters begin to exposited the twists and turns that I was already following well without their confessions. I think the play does a fantastic job in not apologizing for its humour but does seem to back away from letting the audience discover the plot for ourselves.
The play is not high art, nor do I think it’s trying to be. When you have two chase sequences through a cardboard cemetery set to Benny Hill, I think this group is just trying to make a few jokes and maybe some gasps when the twists start to unravel. Fool’s Gold achieved what it set out to do in DIY, student production glory. It’s a mess, but a really funny mess.
Comedy
By Malcolm Webb
Director Not Listed on Program- Ben Whittle is Producer
No production Photos linked
Malcolm Webb, Ben Whittle, Edd Pullen, Alec Osborne
Until October 26th
80 minutes, no interval