OUT THERE, Mark Vigeant’s high-energy character comedy, has only one joke, but it’s a decent one that consistently raises a chuckle. He plays Larry, a 37-year-old engineer who aspires to be a survival influencer, so he’s ventured to the Alaskan Wilderness with only a tarp, a bow and arrow, and a GoPro strapped to his chest to record his adventures for his legion of followers (fewer than ten). The chief joke, of course, is that Larry is a hopeless outdoorsman.
The audience is roped into helping transform the basement of Assembly Roxy into The Last Frontier. Plastic foliage handed out on arrival clues us in that we’ll be portraying Alaskan flora, but several of us are fauna too – at the show I attend, Vigeant has much fun with a strangely seductive bear and an extremely enthusiastic moose. Throughout, there are two modes of engaging with OUT THERE: through the images projected on screen from Larry’s chest-mounted camera or by observing the whole of the action on stage, which has the fun effect of being both livestream and behind-the-scenes simultaneously.
From food poisoning to hypothermia to mild maulings, Vigeant puts Larry through the wringer, but he does pull some punches. Hyper-masculine content creators are the scourge of the internet, but Larry isn’t anywhere near the level of toxicity of Andrew Tate or Sneako. Even when he’s railing against his female work colleagues or being resentful of his wife, who’s a successful writer, he’s more misguided than misogynistic. This humanistic approach makes it easier to sympathise with Larry’s plight, but it does rob the show of any satirical bite.
Mark Vigeant: OUT THERE, Assembly Roxy, until 30 Aug (not 19), 5.20pm