PERFORMANCE: DANIEL KITSON

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Barry Award winner of 2007, UK comedian Daniel Kitson has just returned for another national tour. Currently performing his most recent stand-up show, The Impotent Fury of the Privileged, at the Factory Theatre, his latest play, The Ballard of Roger and Grace, is also about to open at the Belvoir St Theatre. ‘I will say some things I think and at times I will get ridiculously pompous,’ he warns in his introduction to his stand-up show, ‘but I will never verge near the dangers of certainty.’ The reason for this is that he is unable to really truly possess a belief wholeheartedly without niggling counter-arguments going on in his mind at the same time. Surely the same goes for all of us. But having said that he proceeds to make a number of profound arguments about our fury being impotent; about people in the world wanting things to change but not doing enough to change it; about how the smallest acts of compassion and humanity can save the world because everything is on a scale (‘pushing in line is on the same scale as genocide’); and about how our lives could be more fulfilling, humane and engaged. Not exactly the stuff of your average live comedy, but Kitson has long expressed more thoughtfulness, sadness, beauty and wisdom than other stand-ups. Two hours spent with him maundering on stage is likely to leave you feeling a little warm and fuzzy. The Ballard of Roger and Garce was created by Kitson and his good friend, songwriter Gavin Osbourn, who will be performing the late-night show with him at Belvoir’s intimate downstairs theatre. Described as ‘a tale of towering courage, of hearts aching, swollen and broken, of battles, won and lost, both romantic and land based’ – going by Kitson’s previous work it’s sure to make us think about things in new ways, laugh incredibly, and want to say to him ‘me too.’

The Impotent Fury of The Privileged
Factory Theatre
105 Victoria Rd, Enmore
17-27 February
$25-30
Bookings: 9550 3666 or www.factorytheatre.com.au

The Ballard of Roger and Grace
Belvoir Street Theatre
25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
23-27 February
$20-26
Bookings: 9699 3444 or www.belvoir.com.au