The Passion of Mr Cardboard @ Underbelly George Square
Miles Calderon impresses as his Mr Cardboard clown character returns to the Fringe, but The Passion can't quite tick the boxes for both character and story
Mr Cardboard is a self-assured man. He can do ‘it’ – whatever 'it' may be. If it is creating a giraffe or, in our case, a chimp out of cardboard, Mr Cardboard (Miles Calderon) has it covered. Outside of the initial theatrics, we are introduced to an extremely American hour, where the confidence comes first and the material comes second. As a clown, his responses to the audience are wonderful, repeatedly setting up platforms for them to fall from, and ridiculing anyone that’s not playing along. This is a silly Fringe show where a man's trousers expand further than the room, but there is also more at play.
Mr Cardboard wants to toy with your heartstrings, and although the performance itself is anything but stiff, it does feel ‘by the numbers’. The silly gags are a fun icebreaker, but when the same lighting cue returns 45 minutes in, you feel accustomed to everything this hour will present. The hour has traces of Stamptown’s spontaneity (Mr Cardboard is a frequent contributor to the show), but with a detrimental narrative shoehorned in. Trapped within the bullet points of the hour, Mr Cardboard feels like it could easily be something more of a ‘variety’ show and intrinsically more exciting.
The issue with The Passion Of Mr Cardboard is never the passion, nor Mr Cardboard himself – in fact, the flaws present themselves in the marriage of the two. The high stakes narrative combined with a man ripping a sheet of cardboard, while amusing at first, offers diminishing returns towards the back quarter. We are taken on a voyage throughout the show into the land of cardboard; without many details of this world, we see overlords, phone calls and a sacred bell. Ultimately the show hinges on the performance itself, which while phenomenal, isn’t enough to varnish an ironically wooden script. The show’s finale slows the performance down, bringing the momentum to a crashing halt; in the silence, the magic begins to evaporate. The journey was fun, but the destination feels anticlimactic.
The Passion of Mr Cardboard, Underbelly George Square (Wee Coo), until 30 Aug, 7.20pm, £12-£14