• theatre
  • features
  • glimpses
  • faqs
  • contact
  • theatre
  • features
  • glimpses
  • faqs
  • contact
  Art Murmurs - Wellington Reviews

Reviews

Magical Foot Job - Ben MacGougan

13/5/2017

1 Comment

 

by Laura Ferguson

Picture
“This is show is not about a sex act,” MacGougan explains to us at the beginning of the show. Hilariously told sexual scenarios fizzle from my mind to be replaced by curiosity as MacGougan launches into the true meaning of the title.  Already, he is outrageously funny. MacGougan is easy and affable on stage. I am instantly hanging onto my chair for what will come next. What does - shocks me. I give a startled, choking gasp before giggles erupt from me with the tingling ferocity of champagne bubbles as MacGougan shows us a side of himself we haven’t seen before.

“Oh, he’s so
clever” I think as MacGougan parades on stage. Using his body to give winking nods to social inequalities experienced by women. He shows off the ridiculousness of these gender standards while I simultaneously get to experience the conservative argument of being uncomfortable. Again, this show is not about a sex act or a sexual situation, but I blush and shift in my seat. Glancing up I see with relief a ‘Cold Water’ pipe above me in case the heat of my cheeks gets too much. These are stupid thoughts, I know, but how strange it is to viscerally experience what I’ve always thought were preposterous ideologies.

MacGougan continues his set with anecdotes on life including some hilarious interactions he has with his friend from Westport, a small town in the South Island. MacGougan describes his friend’s alternative reasonings about climate change and race in a way that made me laugh so much, my cheeks hurt. MacGougan uses this to brilliantly bring up potentially offensive topics in a way that have us laughing at instead of with these opinions.

MacGougan has a great deal of repeatability in his performance. I could go to  see him multiple times with the same material and still continuously laugh. Though most of his material is new for me, there is one old joke that shows up, and honestly a true favourite of mine. If sound effects comedy isn’t a thing, it should be, and MacGougan’s efforts in this area have never failed to make me laugh uproariously. Booms, whistles and radio crackling all work together to produce one astounding joke. MacGougan’s delivery of it is amazing and this one sequence alone is worth the ticket price.

Jumping into his second half, MacGougan pokes fun at a range of comedy tropes. From puns, to prop humour, voice-overs to repetitious, unoriginal music numbers, MacGougan deftly eviscerates what we have come to expect from mainstream comedy. I snort, impressed at the way he shows us the difference between what is actually funny and what is socially-conditioned expectation of laughter. It is a thought that I have often wondered myself and I love seeing it physically brought to the stage. However, I wish that this had been on first and then having MacGougan’s original stand-up material afterwards. His first half was so strong and ridiculously funny that I would have loved to see it after going through the comedy cliché’s in a kind of “see this is how you do it” kind of way.

Ben MacGougan’s Magical Foot Job is very pleasurable and satisfying to watch, and, while still not a sex act, we, the audience still leave on a proper endorphin high. The giddy release of tension watching MacGougan made my night and I thoroughly enjoyed his sly wit. Go for the laughs, go for the sounds, heck go because you still misunderstand the title. Magical Foot Job will give you want you want and leave you wanting more.

​
Ben MacGougan’s Magical Foot Job is on at Ivy Bar & Cabaret on Thursday 11th and Saturday 13th of May. You can find tickets here.

​
1 Comment
clare mcmahon
17/5/2017 08:22:36 pm

loved magical foot job---

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Local Honest Reviews

    At Art Murmurs, our aim is to provide honest and constructive art reviews to the Wellington community.

    Archives

    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    Categories

    All
    All Age Appropriate
    Art
    BATS
    Beauty Standards
    Black Comedy
    Body Positive
    Circa
    Circus
    Comedy
    Comedy Festival 2018
    Comedy Festival 2019
    Dance
    Devised
    Documentary
    Drag
    Drama
    Exhibition
    Experimental
    Female Artists
    Feminism
    Festival
    For Kids
    Fringe
    Fun
    Gallery
    Gryphon Theatre
    Heart + Music
    History
    Improv
    International
    Interview
    Ivy
    Lighting
    Local
    Mental Health
    Music
    Musical
    New Writing
    New Zealand
    NZ Comedy
    NZ Fringe
    NZIF
    On Tour
    Photography
    Photospace Gallery
    Physical Theatre
    Political
    Politics
    Premiere
    Pyramid Club
    Queer
    Race
    Science
    Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre
    Sexual Violence
    Shakespeare
    Site Specific
    Site-specific
    Sketch
    Solo Show
    Song
    Spoken Word
    Storytelling
    Te Auaha
    Theatre
    Thought Provoking
    Thought-provoking
    Toi Poneke Gallery
    Verbatim
    Victoria University
    Weekly
    Wellington
    Wellington Footlights