“My first show, I had lots of characters doing different sketches,” Glanc says. “One of the things that I wanted to do for this show was just have one character for the whole show and give that a try. I’ve always really enjoyed those character comedy shows where you can kind of invest a bit in learning about someone and you don’t have to reveal too much too quickly.”
The character in question is hyper-masculine American Dicky Rosenthal, who wants to transform dweebs into “real men” with his life-changing creation: Manfül. His compulsion to pitch the product leads him down some strange paths, forcing him to reveal his true nature and personality with a host of surprising results. Glanc reveals that he took pride and a lot of effort to build his surreal character, and hopes the hyper-reality of Rosenthal rouses some important observations.
“The show, in some ways, is quite personal,” Glanc says. “It wasn’t that personal at first, and then I did it during Melbourne Fringe. Afterwards, I went about redeveloping it because it was kind of skimming the surface of some of these issues – it wasn’t really hitting them as much as I would have liked. It became a bit more personal. It’s definitely commenting on what it means to be a real man and what it means to be a real woman.
“I think it’s relatable to everyone, but I’m definitely trying to make some comments about this pressure – what it is in contemporary society to be a man, the blurring of those lines and how it impacts our identity. Does it matter? The show’s really about my insecurities. That’s effectively what the show’s about.”
Glanc loves the art of performance and creation, blurring the lines between theatre, comedy and stand-up. Toying with interaction and improv, he adapts with the atmosphere, weaving bizarre worlds from both the extreme and his own.
“I’m still learning what I want to be as a performer and what interests me,” Glanc says. “What’s interesting about this show is that it’s so different from my first – my first show was a one-man sketch show. In some ways I could have done that again, another version of that, but I wanted to do something completely different. I wanted to do a character comedy with a story – a clear beginning, middle and end. Although it’s not like a theatre piece, there’s a story and the audience walks out feeling like they’ve gone through something. That was really important for me to try, and I really enjoyed that. But now I’m starting to miss all the characters, so I don’t know, you know? It’s still early days. I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s nice not to be able to define myself.”
By Jacob Colliver
Venue: ACMI – Games Room
Dates: Thursday March 30 – Sunday April 23 (bar Mondays)
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $18 – $27
