Presented by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed Thurs 17th June 2010
http://www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com
Venue: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: finished
Duration: 1hr
Bookings for all Cabaret Festival shows: BASS 131 241 or http://www.bass.net.au
Raymond Crowe describes himself as an unusualist, explaining that he collects unusual things and unusual stories. His show is filled with these unusual things, keeping alive traditions that have fallen by the wayside. His incredible hand shadow work is central to his show and a Youtube video of a piece called The Shadow, to the music of Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World, has had over a million hits. His act also includes a great deal of comedy, ventriloquism, clowning and magic.
The pace of this show is high as Crowe runs through his vast repertoire of abilities, one segment following quickly on the heels of another. This is an exhibition of ultimate professionalism born of innumerable hours of intensive practice and constant refinement. His combination of enormous skill and talent makes it all look so easy. When it comes to his magic acts, he is a magicians’ magician. His dexterity with the multiplying billiard balls is absolutely astounding.
It was pleasing to see that the audience included a great many children and it is sad to think that, with so few people like Crowe performing these acts, future generations might not have the chance to see them in a live show. He includes several segments of hand shadow work, dances with a jacket that floats in the air around him, seemingly alive, puts words into the mouths of volunteers from the audience with his ventriloquism, to enormous bouts of laughter, clowns around as his Uncle Bob going fishing and, a charming interlude, brings a small girl onto the stage for some gentle humour with a bubble blowing competition.
This is family entertainment at its finest.
He concluded the show, to the delight of the audience, with The Shadow, using a light downstage projecting the images onto the screen at the rear, allowing the audience to see how he creates the images for this piece. This, of course, brought forth the biggest round of applause of the afternoon. It was hard to accept that a full hour had passed; it seemed as though it had been only a few minutes. The smiling faces in the foyer after the show were testament to the pleasure that Crowe had given to the audience.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor Glam Adelaide.
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