Simon Bosco hates himself. A lot. He hates his appearance. He hates his hometown. He hates being sober. He hates his life. His Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut covers a variety of things that he resents, mostly himself, in a show that can’t decide whether it’s comedic or just plain depressing.
Beginning outside the performance room itself, Bosco wanders through the small crowd waiting patiently to be let inside, dressed in a cardboard robot costume and greeting his guests. And by greeting, I mean warning us about the supposed trainwreck about to commence and giving us the opportunity to escape before it is too late. Nobody chose to leave, as expected, and we spend the next hour watching this angry, self-hating man rant and rave about all of life’s mediocrities and his utterly sad view of himself.
Bosco is an odd gentleman. He comes across as intelligent and confident, despite his consistent comments about his alleged unfortunate life, and he basically yelled at his audience for his entire show. He does have some interesting observations, in particular those about cooking shows, microwave meals and waving to people on boats, but his overall delivery does not create the quality hilarity that these stories have the potential to generate. His strange social awkwardness created an air of slight discomfort rather than humour, and his self-deprecation seemed more a plea for sympathy rather than an attempt at some A-grade comedy.
The highlight of Sargasm is Bosco’s remarkable vocabulary. The way in which he perfects his dense descriptions of simple things is extremely witty, and is the most impressive part of the show. Phrases such as ‘chasm of regret’ and ‘shame soda’ (the meanings of which I will not spoil) are actually fantastic and will thrill anyone with a passion for the creative possibilities of the English language.
In between the unique stories and astute wordplay, Bosco had a couple of semi-amusing moments involving coloured balls and some audience participation. However, his tendency to rapidly reiterate his rants until they become increasingly tedious, and his inclusion of some unnecessary and confusing material (including ‘cleaning’ an audience member with a duster, and a strange audience emotion auction that did not make much sense) were not engaging or particularly interesting. His recurring comments about his immense hatred of himself became less funny as the show went on; it can be difficult to laugh at someone who encourages you to not only mock their appearance but their entire life.
Sargasm has the potential to be something truly special and alternative but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Simon Bosco undoubtedly has the material for a dark comedy festival show; he has just not yet reached a level where his intellectual capabilities are on par with his comedic mannerisms.
Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 stars
Simon Bosco: Sargasm
Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets. Smith Street, Collingwood
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
30 March – 13 April
