Jin Hao Li @ Pleasance Courtyard
Jin Hao Li makes the nonsensical make sense in his excellent debut hour, Swimming in a Submarine
Jin Hao Li’s debut hour Swimming in a Submarine is, from start to finish, a complete fever dream. That's appropriate, given this is a show centred around Li’s recurring childhood dreams and nightmares. Although, to say the show is centred around anything as concrete as a dream would be gross misinformation.
Li’s presence – his voice, his movement, and his delivery – falls somewhere between the whimsy of a character from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Cardi B. He simultaneously struts and floats, raps and whispers. He has the aura of both an excitable schoolboy that can’t wait to get going (immediately apparent, as he greets all of us at the door), and an omniscient elder who, with his seamless callbacks, casual wordplay (‘puns?’ he seems to say, ‘I can do puns,’), and soft song-like voice could have been wooing crowds for decades.
Yet all of this is merely a bonus to what is, simply put, an hour of brilliant bit after brilliant bit. When written down – canteen romances, army conscription, strangling turtles – none of it makes much sense. But it’s apparent from the outset that this nonsensical tale is perfectly constructed – not a single word is wasted, nor a punchline missed. With something so perfect there’s an undercurrent of worry that one misstep could cause the whole house to collapse but with disruptions aplenty (this is the Fringe, after all) it’s quickly evident that Li will not be easily perturbed. He welcomes commotion in fact, mocking exchanged glances between folk on the front row, or mimicking certain audience members' shrieks of laughter. Which is a good thing, as with an hour this good you’d hear them from the bottom of the ocean.
Jin Hao Li: Swimming in a Submarine, Pleasance Courtyard (Below), until 25 Aug (not 14), 7.10pm, sold out but returns may be available. Extra shows at Pleasance Courtyard (Cabaret Bar), 18 and 22 Aug, 11pm, £12