Chortle Review - Adelaide Fringe Festival

Morning radio host and comedian Luke Holt has negotiated thelife’s journeys that face most every man. With his show Dating, Daddydom and Delirium, he relays many hilarious tales of relationships and procreation, which keeps the audience glued to his every word.

Holt explores very well-worn topics, so faces the massive hurdle of saying something new about such subjects as the differences between men and women. While you have probably heard a lot of these concepts before, he gives them some freshness with a highly personal perspective, including his intriguing background as a Christian minister. Unique and amusing analogies help illustrate his ideas, while some new theories into human behaviour and a healthy dose of self deprecation give him clear ownership of this material.

Moments intended to garner American-style applause for his achievements are a foreign concept to Australian audiences, but the opening night crowd were happy to oblige him in this indulgence. They are easy to overlook as pure vanity when delivered by such a charming and knockabout bloke.

Holt involves his audience through gentle banter. The fun was cheeky, inoffensive teasing, far from confronting. He handles any curveballs with ease and incorporates the slightly stranger responses seamlessly into his scripted material.

His delivery is highly animated in spite of his stocky frame. The small stage restricts the bounding around but he does a wonderful job in enthusiastically re-enacting the more surreal scenarios from his life. Some mimicry of the characters in the stories often veer towards stereotype, but get the points across effectively.

Attracting punters from a wide demographic with material of universal appeal, this is a show to please all-comers, particularly couples who can laugh in recognition of Holt's adventures in life.

Review by Colin Flaherty