Jason Rouse – Original Review
Note: This review is from 2005
Review by Steve Bennett
Shock comic Jason Rouse unleashes his ferocious, depraved vulgarity with such swaggering high energy, it’s hard not to be won over.
With bags of rebellious attitude, he cuts a charismatic figure, appealing especially to the tribe that his tattoos, piercings and metal chic so obviously mark him as a member of.
His spiky shtick is to say the supposedly unsayable, with a set full of the most fetid images and inappropriate lines that have dared crossed his diseased imagination.
For a while, this is a guilty pleasure, as he flirts shamelessly with taboos – aided by his compelling, pacy delivery. A subtle cheekiness also knocks the edge of some of the excesses, making it obvious this is only a game.
But the material does eventually wear thin. Once the pattern of ever-escalating degeneracy is established, the element of surprise is lost and the law of diminishing returns kicks in. The unpleasantness is relentless, and becomes ultimately tiresome – even more so when combined with his redundant reminders of just how controversial he is being.
He’s surely serving his target constituency well, but more variety and surprises in the set would endear him to a wider audience – though some will never be swayed by such unredeemable filth, however impressively it’s told.
Review date: 1 Mar 2005
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
