Review by Steve Bennett

Fame buys you latitude. Had any Fringe unknown opened their show with a creation as flat as Rhys Darby’s ranger, Bill Napier, there would probably have been murmurs of disappointment from the get-go, thanks to a script so limp the best joke was: ‘I don’t believe in guns. Literally. I don’t believe they exist.’

But then the whole sold-out show was markedly underwritten, badly serving Darby’s proven abilities as a performer.

UFO spotter Steve Whittle and whale-watcher Ron Taylor – the characters he performed as a Hollywood audition piece – were believable, warm and rounded. Only funny was missing from the list, but as omissions go, that’s quite a major one.

Alongside the characters, we got stand-up, with the mild-mannered Kiwi telling us about his adventures in Los Angeles, staying at Gregory Peck’s old house, and accidentally smashing the wing mirror of the hire care he was given. In typically obtuse style, he spent a lot of time on that broken wing mirror, though making us care about it proved a struggle.

Similarly a story about shooting a drowning scene on The Boat That Rocked would make mildly entertaining talk-show fodder, boosted by the sycophantic laughter of a host, but is underwhelming as a piece of stand-up. Only the tale about the remote-controlled prosthetic cock used in his forthcoming film was genuinely funny – for reasons obvious.

For a character actor hailed for his subtle performances, it’s odd that he best part of Darby’s live work is his silly sound effects. Low-key they’re not, but his impressions of flies, helicopters and hydraulic lifts are stupidly entertaining – and when he adds physicality for the robot impersonation, the hour hits a high.

Conchords fans got to see Murray in the flesh – and a small handful of them even gave him a standing ovation – which seems to be the main purpose of this Udderbelly run, but if you came fresh to this big-ticket show, you would be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about.

Review date: 11 Aug 2009
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett