Paul Kerensa

In the beginning, there is an "in the beginning" joke, and what follows isn’t much more interesting. Paul Kerensa leads the audience through many of the most well-worn stories of Genesis and the rest of the Old Testament, interspersing the performance with appropriate clips from the progressive rock band of the same name.

If the concept sounds tired, that’s because it is. Kerensa recounts the stories with intentional naïvete and, in the process, exposes the funnier inconsistencies in the stories of creation, Noah’s Ark, Babel and Sodom and Gomorrah. The path is well-trodden, and the act rarely leaves it. Additionally, the routine has a strangely delicate tone which, when combined with the tepid punch lines, makes for slow going. The two guest comedians seem to be there to demonstrate the pitfalls of wandering too far from Kerensa’s semi-respectful snark. The Christian guest doesn't evangelise but is excessively pious, while the atheist comes across as bitter. Kerensa has found a safe mean between the two, but not necessarily a funny one.

That's not to say that there aren't bright moments. The ongoing theme of Genesis' music is quite entertaining and by the time they are run through a filter of puns, malapropism and twisted logic, many of the apparently tired Biblical oddities experience a minor sort of resurrection. Kerensa chooses his subjects well, but fails to give his jokes the edge that they need to make Genesis worth spending money on.

Read Jasper Jackson's review of Paul Kerensa at Fringe.