Springing onto stage to Blue by Eiffel 65 like a children’s birthday party entertainer, Kit Loyd subjects his audience to an hour of frenzied sketches and questionable interludes. Held together by a loose theme of electronic music, Frenzy is a mime-based sketch routine that relies heavily on popular culture references and physical comedy. After Blue stops playing, Loyd jokes “is this what the whole show is going to be like?”. Unfortunately, it is.
The show’s greatest weakness is its eagerness to recycle material, with most jokes being squeezed dry. One sketch, mocking action movie tropes, involves an incredibly grating audio clip of machine gun fire. This clip is not only used three times in the same sketch, but is reused ad nauseam throughout the show.
Other jokes fail to land with the worst offender being the regular use of a popular Domino’s Pizza advert catchphrase – ‘domin-oh-hoo-hoo’ – in a manner that lacks the originality needed to pull it off.
Despite some considerable lows, Frenzy is well executed with its numerous lighting and audio cues being timed perfectly with the exaggerated movements on stage. Loyd’s ability to contort his body and face in increasingly ridiculous shapes is at least impressive, and there are a handful of jokes that do land – at least the first time.
Frenzy is a faultlessly performed collection of loose ideas and iffy jokes, haphazardly tied together through a metaphor for Loyd’s former addiction and his love of electronic music.
Kit Loyd: Frenzy, Assembly Roxy, until Aug 24 (not 11), 8.20pm