(The) Joshua Ladgrove (Show) review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

I've been attending Joshua Ladgrove's shows for over ten years. Time really flies. His sense of humour, his characters, and his ability to connect and engage with an audience have been incredible to watch. In his new show, (The) Joshua Ladgrove (Show), Joshua must more or less save Christmas after a horrifying accident occurs at Carols by Candlelight.

With radio personality and baritone singer Denis Walter is incapacitated in hospital, Joshua is asked to step in to host his TV variety show on Christmas Eve. The opening is quite impressive, with Ladgrove seamlessly inserting himself into Carols by Candlelight via the magic of VFX. It’s an exciting start and a promising glimpse of what’s to come, or so I thought.

Ladgrove seems unprepared for opening night. He refers to his set list throughout the show, trying to weave it into the performance as part of Joshua stepping into Walter’s shoes, but it keeps pulling us out of the variety show conceit and disrupting his momentum and rhythm. There are also a few audio mishaps, that while minor, add to the feeling of a rough preview night.

Once Joshua begins his hosting duties, the show turns into a standard variety night of random sketches that generally outstay their welcome. One recurring segment involves Ladgrove reading from Walter's unauthorised biography, A Tall Glass of Walter (with the script visibly pasted into the makeshift book). The first time, the gag is amusing, but we definitely didn't need to return to it a second time. The humour doesn’t build or go anywhere unexpected, staying in surprisingly safe territory for Ladgrove. Even the 'twist' at the end lacks the frantic energy or wildness you’d hope for.

There are some fun nostalgic nods to Australian pop culture, including Ken Bruce going completely mad and the Pick-A-Part commercial, but beyond that, (The) Joshua Ladgrove (Show) doesn’t offer much.

Ladgrove is an extremely talented comedian and performer, and he's consistently delivered laugh out loud moments to audiences. Unfortunately, there's not much to delight in or be drawn into in (The) Joshua Ladgrove (Show). Fingers crossed this is just a one-off Christmas coal from an otherwise stellar performer.

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: The Victoria Hotel, 215 Little Collins St, Melbourne
Season: until 20 April | Tues - Sat 8.40pm, Sun 7.40pm
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $32 - 35 Full | $27 Conc | $30 Tightarse Tuesday
Bookings: Melbourne International Comedy Festival