Presented by Michael Shafar
Reviewed 10 March 2020
This is Michael Shafar’s third visit to the Adelaide Fringe. His first gig was funny; his second gig was very funny; and this time around he is very,very funny.
What is his secret? He’s warm, fairly charming, a good Jewish boy, intelligent, confident and knows just how to tell a joke and deliver a brilliantly timed punch-line.
His show this year is a tad different. There are the innocent ‘dad joke’ styled gags and humorous stories about his love life, but there is also slightly darker material that has crept in (still very funny though): there’s jokes about racists (rather than racism), the Coronavirus (come on, we have to laugh about it or we’d go mad), the rush on toilet paper and Shafar’s rather unique solution to the problem, and other issues that, quite honestly, need to be laughed about.
On the night reviewed something strange, but wonderful, happened. Shafar felt that the material was starting to lose some of the audience (not this little black duck and my fellow second rowers – or even the front row), so he went off script, or as he called it, “had a breakdown”.
Now, have no fear, this was no ordinary ‘breakdown’ – it was hilarious. Schafar showed his immense skill at working and handling an audience so well that one had to wonder at times if it had been scripted. Apparently it had not, but the jokes and put downs came so fast and furiously, and smoothly, that one could be forgiven at being slightly confused.
He even admitted himself at the end (after he got back on track beautifully for the last four minutes) that although it wasn’t the show he planned, it was probably the most fun he had ever had in a show – and we all knew how he felt.
Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
Rating out of 5: 5
Venue: The Squeaker at Gluttony – Rymill Park
Season: Until 15 March 2020
Duration: 50 min
Tickets: $25 – $27
Bookings: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/michael-shafar-getting-better-af2020
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