Guy Williams @ Assembly George Square
An hour of brazen and bullish political comedy from Kiwi firebrand Guy Williams
Straight off the mark, it’s like Guy Williams is challenging you to dislike him. Within seconds, declaring the UK “a shithole piece of trash country”, he mercilessly dismantles everything we hold dear. From ABBA Voyage ('ABBA aren’t dead, they just didn’t want to come to this fucking place') to bagpipes ('Learn another song, you one-hit wonder'), it doesn’t take long until he’s berating the audience at the Fringe, claiming 'there’s nothing Fringe about it, it’s one big capitalist dream'!
If his ambition is to alienate the audience, he fails miserably; there's no spectacle quite like a 6' 3'' New Zealander screaming in your face. Once this bullish figure has destroyed everything in his peripheral china shop, he casts the same ruinous gaze back home. This brazen delivery is nothing new from Williams, his cataclysmic political demolitions are his calling card, and although the political establishment is still boiling him to ignition, the cause is now far more introspective than before.
The show centres around his job, his parents and his relationship, all of which are now embroiled in an ongoing political scandal in NZ. If Williams is to be believed, the headlining transgression occurred five weeks ago, which is testament itself to how quickly he can pull together such a tightly orchestrated show. The delivery is shambolic, but deliberately so, as if there’s so much emotion firing through his head at any time that the only way he can endure his own routines is to stand, eyes closed, engulfed in it all.
Rooted in his parents' wavering political alliances and the disappointment of seeing loved-ones get consumed by right-wing narratives, it's loud and brash. Yet when a punter enquires about ‘Three Waters Legislation’ (recent plans for the centralization of water management in NZ), Williams launches into a truly erudite education, dropping his flagrant persona momentarily, revealing a man truly informed about everything he speaks.
Guy Williams begs you to hate him from beginning to end, but with a show as endlessly engaging, honed and honest as this, it’s impossible.
Guy Williams: If You Mildly Criticise Me I'll Say It's Cancel Culture And Turn To The Alt Right, Assembly George Square Studios (Studio 5), until 24 Aug, 7.20pm and Assembly George Square (The Box), 22 Aug, 3.45pm, £10-15