Review by Steve Bennett

Jodie Dick is a comedian who breaks all the rules. And no, that’s not a good thing.

Though it takes a while to become apparent, Dicking A Great Big Hole is supposedly a masterclass in comedy, and she has so many ‘rule number ones’ that it’s impossible to keep up. Only problem is that by both accident and design, she ignores all her good advice about keeping it simple, building a rapport with the audience and what-have-you, which makes for an often awkward 40-odd minutes.

This is a baffling show. She is dressed, like so many fresh-out-of-drama-school graduates doing their first comedy characters, in a tiresomely ‘wacky’ way: clashing red tights and green dress, a vintage hat and bumbag, which immediately makes your heart sink. But is this a character or is it here? Meanwhile, the stage is cluttered with litter as she walks in, chatting on her Bluetooth to her stage manager, who’s apparently not bothered to show up.

Shambles surrounds all the proceedings, with uncomfortably stilted audience interaction and grating non sequiturs as she leaps between the comedy lesson, her phone conversation, and revelations about her back story.

The blame for all of this should be laid at the door of director Gordon Carver, because Dick has plenty going for her, and this show has some good ideas plus at least a handful of decent jokes which could have made it so much better than it turned out. She’s certainly a charismatic performer, with a winning twinkle in here eye even when she’s being confrontational, which allowed her passive-aggressive approach to create some awkwardly funny moments. But the show needs more clarity and purpose to fulfil her potential.

Still, it did contain one of the biggest laughs of the Fringe. But only because one audience member’s chair collapsed – and no joke can be funnier than seeing a man spread-eagled amid the wreckage of furniture, chuckling uncontrollably at his own misfortune. The ill-focussed chaos Dick served up certainly couldn’t hope to compete with that.

Review date: 23 Aug 2011
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett