COMEDY | MIDSUMMA
Feeling Afraid as if Something Terrible Is Going to Happen ★★★★
Arts Centre Melbourne, until February 1
Among the cream of our Millennial comedians, gay men are common as mud. Look at Josh Thomas or Joel Creasey or Tom Ballard or Rhys Nicholson. All very gay and creamy, and although they mine their relationships for material all the time (Thomas’ last live show Let’s Tidy Up gave us a comprehensive update on his romantic life, and those with long memories will recall that he and Ballard dated for 2½ years), they do not, as a rule, write shows about killing their boyfriends, however strong the temptation might be.
Samuel Barnett in a scene from Feeling Afraid as If Something Terrible Is Going to HappenCredit: Mark Gambino
In the UK, a darker comedic vein prevails. Feeling Afraid as if Something Terrible Is Going to Happen is about a troubled, 36-year-old stand-up comedian – gay and relationship-averse – who falls in love with an American Mr Right against the odds. It’s undiscovered country for him, not to mention the neurotic shtick he trades on, and he soon becomes obsessed by the prospect of slaying his new partner.
Cue the slasher horror sound effect from Psycho? Or is this yet more fodder for a career built on excavating alienation … and using it to build an impregnable defence against intimacy?
Writer Marcelo Dos Santos has created a sinuous comic monodrama that drapes itself in the world of stand-up, onstage and behind the scenes. He’s written comedy for comedians – the way some novels are written for writers – exploring the architecture and philosophy of comedy through droll social observation, perverse introspection, and a character who’s likeably unlikeable and a bit disturbing.
Thinking of the show as a gay male Fleabag is not, in fact, too wide of the mark.
Samuel Barnett’s performance is impish and charismatic.Credit: Mark Gambino
Samuel Barnett’s performance is impish and charismatic – a brilliantly sustained character portrait that writhes with discomfort and melancholy underneath the relentless onslaught of comic striving.
It’s impressive the way Barnett can spin on a dime, shifting through multiple characters with different accents, or ricochet from a camp running gag into an awkward, quietly heartbreaking scene in which the comedian talks to his mother in a distanced and dutiful way on the phone.
