Dan Antopolski Fringe Review 2008

In the four years since he last performed at the Fringe, Dan Antopolski's been busy "making babies." Unfortunately the fact that he's "a family man these days" is the show's only discernible theme, and one that fails to prompt any comedic gold from the two-time Perrier award nominee in this awkward, rambling set.

The comic's friendly banter with audience members serves initially to break the ice, but the banal chit-chat continues for such an inordinate length of time that it appears Antopolski is simply killing time. And when he finally launches in to his scripted material, jumping wildly between unrelated subjects, the increasingly sweaty comic raises few laughs from a tepid audience bemused, rather than amused, by his seemingly pointless anecdotes.

The title of his show implies Antopolski's “penetrating gaze” will generate razor sharp observational comedy, but in truth he offers a series of hazy descriptions that lack the necessary punchlines to render them worthy of performance.

Playing up his Polish roots throughout the show, Antopolski conducts bizarre “conversations” with himself in the guise of his heavily-accented Slavic cousin. Whilst these lengthy episodes add variety to an otherwise tedious monologue, they become increasingly muddled and near-impossible to follow as Antopolski himself loses track of which voice he's speaking in. Similarly, while his raps about sandwiches, racism and babies are well-delivered, the lyrics are simply unfunny.

With his gentle smile and charming manner, Antopolski is a difficult man to dislike. But you'll probably wish you'd sat opposite him at a dinner party, rather than forked out about a tenner to see his show.