Having clocked almost twenty years experience “acting the goat”, Gordon Southern returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a jagged yet enjoyable new hour, Long Story Short.
An excitable, bright-eyed performer, Gordon Southern boasts an irrepressible charm. He puts it to good use, too, developing a strong rapport with his audience. The opening minutes of Long Story Short are an exercise in mild flirtation, Southern courting the crowd with ease. As a veteran comic, he knows how to effectively endear himself and make the best of an intimate space. It’s good that he spares the time, but if anything negative could be said, it’s that Southern’s enlongated overture could stand to be trimmed a little. In the process, the show’s opening would stand to lose the ‘false start’ feel it currently possesses.
In Long Story Short, Southern presents a digestible blend of observational comedy and storytelling. He examines the ludicrousness of Costco, the overwhelming influence of social media, as well as the the agony and ecstasy of encountering an idol in the real world. Southern is especially charismatic, which is just as well: Long Story Short darts from topic to topic, beckoning you to keep up. Show structure isn’t always paramount, but this show feels especially manic and scattered, Southern tearing into tangents with wild abandon. For every off-ramp Southern takes, the ultimate destination becomes more and more ambiguous. You’re left to wonder what the show is actually about. Broadly speaking, is it about family? Family is certainly a recurring subject, but what of the segments of the show devoted to cars? Does an hour of comedy even need to revolve around anything specific? Perhaps not. Still, in the case of this tangled hour, a little focus would work wonders.
At this point, Southern deserves a reprieve. After all, his aim is to induce laughter and Southern checks that box quite definitively. Not everything is solid gold, but his arsenal of sneaky punchlines elude prediction, while his “fun facts” and “mercifully short raps” account for additional surprises throughout the show. Special mention must also be made of the final quarter of Long Story Short, in which Southern discusses his father’s battle with dementia. Southern handles the subject with class, a certain sweetness in his words as he reflects upon good times and bad times alike. Don’t be put off: he cedes control of a clown horn to the front row as a courtesy, the prop quickly becoming the epitome of light relief.
Overall, you’re in good hands with Gordon Southern, a performer too experienced to deliver anything less than an enjoyable hour of comedy. If you’re happy to strap in for some wild tangents, you’ll savour Long Story Short.
BY NICK MASON
