Tom Thum - Beating The Habit

Able to pack an entire sound system in his throat and with charisma in spades, Tom Thum’s vocal adventures are one of the highlights of this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Amped and dangerous with just a microphone and chaos pads to loop and sample his own voice on the spot, Brisbane beatboxer and Tom Tom Crew member filled The Deluxe tent in The Garden of Unearthly Delights with songs composed of beats, basslines, saxophones and sirens – all from his own breath.

A self-confessed sufferer of a debilitating addiction to beats, Thum is obviously inspired by sound wherever he goes. Aside from self-penned songs like Home Stay Blues that showed off his exceptional voice as well as his beats, his set included everything from a ‘recreation’ of the big bang to the harmonies of the world.

He even mimicked the whir of a pedestrian crossing – which leads to the untimely end of a poor, blind pedestrian in a tongue-in-cheek documentary projected onto a media screen that tracks his attempts to rehabilitate himself and “beat the habit”.

Thum is disarmingly open about his personal life and creative process, and half the fun of his performance lay in his engaging personality. His sharp wit was evident in interactions with the audience, including a Q&A session midway through to rest his voice, and his beat-boxing tutorial (“Don’t worry, you’re all gonna get covered in spit”). He clearly loves what he does and has the charm and energy to easily pull off his first solo performance away from the Tom Tow Crew.

The Deluxe Tent, tightly filled with chairs that sardined audience members together – all the better to maximise how much you felt the bass pumping through your body – was a fantastic venue for the show. The opening night audience ranged from the young to the young at heart, with all highly entertained by what Thum called his “vocal Tourettes”.

Here’s hoping his 12-step program to beat the habit never succeeds.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Strut & Fret and Tom Thum present
Beating The Habit
Performed by Tom Thum

The Garden of Unearthly Delights – The Deluxe
21 February – 14 March
Bookings: www.gardenofunearthlydelights.com.au