Glenn Wool - The Stand, Glasgow, 24 Nov
Wool begins by gauging the supposed intellectual capacity of the audience
| 11 Jan 2007
Like a hillbilly Bill Hicks, Glenn Wool's rambling drawl sounds more Texas than Canada (his home nation). But there is a sense that he might just be the acid-fried surrealist he portrays on stage. Either way, the persona subtly disguises moments of truly sharp insight.
Wool begins by gauging the supposed intellectual capacity of the audience. He tells what he considers to be an 'intellectual' joke and then one which is strictly lowest common denominator. It doesn't matter that the former isn't funny at all (regardless of whether one 'gets it' or not), this evening's audience is deemed low-brow and prejudiced, and thus gets treated to a delightfully lurid snapshot of the lives of an incestuous Canadian family. "Well, ya should have laughed harder at the first joke then," he chastises.
But Glenn has weightier matters on his mind. Authority's attitude to drugs, gay-bashing, and the mystery that is China all come in for some witty anecdotal treatment. Some hilarious post-set improv (during a story about accompanying his Scottish girlfriend on a trip around Scotland, he wonders what the political implications of a 'Highland Coup' would be) rounds off the evening. A highly accomplished performance. [Paul Mitchell]
Wool begins by gauging the supposed intellectual capacity of the audience. He tells what he considers to be an 'intellectual' joke and then one which is strictly lowest common denominator. It doesn't matter that the former isn't funny at all (regardless of whether one 'gets it' or not), this evening's audience is deemed low-brow and prejudiced, and thus gets treated to a delightfully lurid snapshot of the lives of an incestuous Canadian family. "Well, ya should have laughed harder at the first joke then," he chastises.
But Glenn has weightier matters on his mind. Authority's attitude to drugs, gay-bashing, and the mystery that is China all come in for some witty anecdotal treatment. Some hilarious post-set improv (during a story about accompanying his Scottish girlfriend on a trip around Scotland, he wonders what the political implications of a 'Highland Coup' would be) rounds off the evening. A highly accomplished performance. [Paul Mitchell]