So, how to avoid the spoiler effect of giving away the punchline – that's to say the twist in the tale that Gary McNair spins in the opening piece of this year's Behaviour season?
Let's dodge that problem momentarily by saying that McNair is part of the Auteurs Project, a collaborative venture between the Arches and the National Theatre of Scotland, intended to nudge artists out of their comfort zone.
McNair – whose previous performances have used incidental humour to challenge social and political ideologies – opted to test a much-expressed opinion that his style of theatre is akin to stand-up comedy.
To do this, he deliberately arrives in neat (if nerdy) dark suit with matching shirt and tie as a professional funny man. Albeit one with dodgy material. That's initially dodgy, as in not very chuckle-worthy, but as the gags edge towards dodgy, as in nasty or in dubious taste, the theatre-maker in McNair surfaces.
There are giveaway moments: little asides that deconstruct the stand-up's techniques to bring an audience on-side – even when it's at a punter's expense. Phew, not me, ha, ha!
The heart of all this matter is the teenager Donald Robertson, who wants to be funny as a defence against the world. Through him, McNair forensically explores the power of comedy to win friends and humiliate people. "Kill or be killed" is the mantra, as he tutors the lad while using him as cannon fodder to entertain us.
Donald (in the shape of Michael Kelly) will finally show us how he turns McNair's friendship and underlying vulnerabilities to his own advantage. Killingly funny. Ouch. But find out why, for yourselves.
HHHH
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