It’s not a Con Coutis show without an infinite number of tech cues. Sound effects and pre-recorded dialogue are controlled by Coutis himself as he plots his escape. Character voices boom from various spots in the 360-degree soundscape, creating an immersive atmosphere where these people, including Morgan Freeman, could actually be in the room. The lighting design is also well executed, heightening the mood and vividly simulating bombs going off.
Perhaps the pièce de résistance is the way Coutis - and one lucky audience member - utilises the rest of the Malthouse Theatre space to ramp up the tension and the comedy, pulling us deeper into the story. His interactions with the audience aren’t strictly necessary as the narrative stands on its own, but the fact that he does engage, and brings their responses back into the performance, demonstrates how quick-thinking he is and how he is always a step ahead of everyone's expectations.
Coutis has such tight control that when an overenthusiastic audience member interrupts to exclaim that one of his costumes (and it's such an awesome costume) looks just like him, he smoothly reels us right back into the story. (And while the man wasn’t wrong, there’s a time and place!) Ironically, that disruption ends up feeding into an even more hilarious moment later when Con refers to audience plants.
I’ve been watching Coutis on stage for a few years now, and his shows keep getting funnier and increasingly innovative. There’s no one else, at least that I'm aware of, who is doing what he’s doing with stand-up, storytelling, and tech. Escape From Heck Island is another sharp, genre-blurring triumph by an extremely talented performer who really knows how to work a captive audience.
SHOW DETAILS
Venue: The Malthouse, 113 Sturt St, Southbank
Season: until 20 April | Tues - Sat 7.15pm, Sun 6.15pm
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $28 - $32 Full | $26 - $30 Conc | $25 Tightarse Tuesday
Bookings: Melbourne International Comedy Festival
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