REVIEW – MEDIOCRE GAY – CAMDEN FRINGE

Posted on by Jill Johnson

David Ian – self-proclaimed mediocrely gay – performs his one-man comedy show featuring one-liners, the expectations that come with being a gay man, and the all too true struggle of figuring out how to fit in.

Mediocre Gay is Ian’s debut solo show and is being performed at the Aces and Eights Saloon Bar as part of the Camden Fringe. I really appreciated Ian’s welcome message in the program and his acknowledgments to those who helped with it. The program also lists four queer songs, with details about their meanings and artists, which are played as you enter the venue. These songs are by queer people who Ian felt deserved to be featured, as they all have a range of experiences.

The venue was downstairs in a room with a small stage and a single mic. Kate Dale opens the show with a hilarious short set about the experiences of being a bisexual woman. She is clever and honest, and having warmed up the audience, she introduces us to Ian.

The overarching message of Mediocre Gay seems to be Ian’s acceptance of falling short of being stereotypically gay, hence the title of the show. He talks about his outfit (sort of gay, but not in-your-face gay) and his ‘typical gay’ childhood experience. (Spice Girls wallpaper and Cher vinyl for the win!) He is facetious in his joke delivery, making the audience at times cackle, and his storytelling is linear and easy to follow. I love the way he reclaims ‘mediocre’ and uses it as his brand, not unlike the way the words ‘gay’ and ‘queer’ have been reclaimed.

Ian’s routine was full of one-liners, sex and relationship jokes, and comments on how these days, being gay is about much more than your sexuality. This last bit is highlighted in a story about how Ian was the only gay person in his workplace, so he felt the need to fit into what his colleagues thought was the typical gay male, even though it wasn’t his true personality. The phenomenon about not feeling ‘gay enough’ is something not just gay men but all queer people know too well with inaccurate and limited queer representation in the media. It is an important conversation to be had, and Ian delivers it with wit and humor in his show.

As a whole, Mediocre Gay was executed more as a stand-up routine than a storytelling. While many did, not all of the jokes had a perfect landing. As Ian is a male, cis, gay, millennial man, the show catered to male, cis, gay, millennial men. I can’t fault him for talking about what he knows, but the show has a very niche humor. Many of his jokes were at the expense of himself, and the self deprecating nature of the routine became a little tiresome. I wish he talked about a few more ‘wins’ or life lessons he learned through his journey.

Overall, the show was an enjoyable night out with a lot of laughter. Mediocre Gay will be on at the Aces and Eights Saloon Bar August 17th and 27th. It will also be on at Ludlow Pride at The Change Thai Bar and Garden August 23rd, as well as the Watford Fringe at the Colne River Studio, Pump House Theatre on September 30th.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

2 Star Review 3 Star Review 4 Star Review 5 Star Review 2022 2023 Adaptation Almeida Cabaret Camden Fringe Cast Announcement Christmas Comedy Dance Drag Edinburgh Fringe Edinburgh Fringe Interviews Fringe Immersive Interviews Jukebox Musical LGBTQIA+ Lyric Hammersmith Manchester Musical New Musical News New Wimbledon Theatre North West Off West End Park Theatre Play Review Revival Richmond Theatre Round Up Royal Court Theatre Shakespeare Show Announcement Show Recommendations Soho Theatre Southwark Playhouse Touring Production VAULT Festival West End

  • A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
    by Ellie Preston
    Spine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, containing stacks of metal cabinets towering over the theatre, moveable by the cast to allow space for other central props like doors, beds and tables. In addition to this, the puppetry design by Matthew Forbes is incredibly clever, adding creepy elements to the show such … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
  • A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
    by Tom Carrao
    The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe. The play opens … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
  • PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
    by Amy Rye
    Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and goes awry, disastrously so. The meta-comedy is filled with slapstick comedy, sometimes the humour may be predictable and silly, but it’s universally funny throughout – there is something for everyone here, and the laughs come thick and fast … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
  • GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
    by George Rennie
    Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, High Tide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and more lightweight, with conventional structures, predictable plot twists and an over-reliance on external forces to drive narrative shoring up some of the less relatable aspects of the genre. Nicola Werenowska’s The Beach House, perhaps the cleanest of the three tales, tells of a mother and … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
  • CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
    by Jenny Skuse
    Drum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with some success. The costuming is fun and vibrant, with the ugly stepsisters’ equine pyjamas and hoop-skirted ball gowns giving all the wrong kinds of extra you need for those characters. Cinderella’s on stage dress transformation is magical and really well-timed. The Dame, Lady Jelly-Bottom’s, outfits … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH

Leave a Reply