English comedian Ross Noble can’t help himself. He opens his mouth and out tumbles gag after gag … based on the simplest of things. The whole show looks and feels improvised … and the belly laughs are plentiful. He appears in front of eight inflatable, lit up Russian babushka dolls of varying sizes (for which he apologies later in the show).
St Kilda (the football team) played at Marvel Stadium the afternoon I saw him. Noble spots a bloke in the second row wearing two red, white and black scarves (and holding another). It is a particularly warm night, so – naturally – Noble makes fun of the fact that the poor chap must be feeling the cold and admires his commitment to “knitwear”. When he learns that the Saints have won only one Premiership in the side’s history, that opens up further scope for levity.
Will Smith’s carry on at the Oscars cops a whack, with Noble commenting on a couple of less than memorable roles the actor has tackled. That results in an elongated bracket of poop and pee jokes. Suddenly, we are into sex toys, before COVID-19 enters the frame, courtesy of a patron who sneezes. In fact, by then, several audience members have been given the Noble treatment, that is the comic capitalises on what he sees and what they say out aloud. When he finds out that one of the attendees is over from Adelaide, he relays his own experiences in the city of churches, which has everything to do with “nut jobs”.
Prince Andrew receives a serve and there is even humour at the Queen’s expense. Noble uses the proper English accent to illustrates how the BBC can talk about anything for an interminable length of time by using the phrase “wonderful scenes”. After a while, he has so ingrained the expression that it has become an earworm. He is the master of the tangential. He moves from one yarn to another and yet another at breakneck speed, before looping back. Supercars, clown cars, donkey carts and Elvis Presley are in the firing line.
And that is before Noble tells the tall tale of an English woman determined to “enjoy” the beach when a hurricane warning has been issued. He finishes with a reference to how he never expected to go as deep as he did on Celebrity Apprentice. He says he put up one crazy idea after another, but time and again survived the cut. Noble is nothing if not bold and bawdy. A lot of his material is blue. In fact, he revels in it and we lap it up, just as we should because this guy is in total command of his craft. He epitomises chaos on a stick. Anything and everything have the potential to be poked, prodded and paraded as humorous in Noble’s pantheon of pleasure.
So, if you are broad-minded, do take a look at Ross Noble On the Go. He is playing at the Athenaeum Theatre, as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, until 24th April, 2022.
Alex First
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Shrek the Musical (QPAC) – theatre review
- David Strassman’s The Chocolate Diet (Athenaeum Theatre) – theatre review
- Bed & Breakfast (Fairly Lucid Productions) – theatre review
Alex First is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.
