Melbourne International Comedy Festival review by Steve Bennett

Harmon Leon is a unique mix of gonzo journalist and absurdist comedian, offering reports of his various ‘infiltrations’ interspersed with mind-warping video montages.

In this show he sends back dispatches from a Christian punk gig, Hardcore 4 Christ, which is as awful as it sounds; the set of the porn film Throat Bangers 2 when ikky, prosaic realities shatter any fantasies, and the reality show Lie Detector, which he asks to ‘clear his name’ over wrongful drink and assault convictions he pretends he has. On this last tale he has some cringe-inducing footage from what looks like a dreadful show; in the others it is left to this literate humorist’s descriptions to paint the scene.

Interesting as they are, and evocatively described, these documentary segments are only mildly humorous – and mainly because of the unusual set-ups rather than what Leon adds. He doesn’t seem overly curious to delve deeper, compared to stylistic cousins such as Louis Theroux or Jon Ronson, who would surely have got further under the skin of the situations.

Stronger laughs come from disconcertingly cut videos, including one which exposes Benny Hill’s TV incarnation as the creepy, predatory pervert he was. Generally, though, seeking meaning in the odd montages, to which we shout ‘ironic’ or ‘not ironic’ is fruitless. It’s just fun to join in.

There’s a bit of stand-up surrounding this, revelling in his outsider status or offering up some tongue-in-cheek local observations, deriding Melbourne’s much-mocked hipsters. Not for the usual reason, but for being rank amateurs compares to those found in his native Williamsburg, New York.

As a side note, Leon must win the prize the oldest press quote in his comedy festival blurb. The phrase ‘a comedy force to be reckoned with’ was indeed used to describe him by Scotland’s The List magazine… but back in 1999 (and they called him out on it in 2011, when they gave him a one-star stinker).

He’s an unorthodox counterculture figure, with playful sense of the silly, but Yank Me remains more curio than must-see.

Review date: 13 Apr 2015
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett