Review by Steve Bennett

If there was an award for hardest-working comedian on the Fringe – not in terms of the number of shows performed but in sheer number of kilojoules expended on stage – Adam Drake would be a shoo-in. He’s dripping in sweat after a frenetic, frenzied hour of fast-cut one-man character comedy, romping through a James Bond-inspired fantasy with an intense physicality.

He’s the action hero, love interest, criminal mastermind, Nazi henchman and even the entire title sequence and the personification of Buzzfeed rolled into one. However his performance is but one aspect of this ambitious show.

The labyrinthine plot is cleverly structured, and the script sparkles with wit, deploying everything from overelaborate metaphors to bungled chat-up lines, all demonstrating nimble wordplay. There’s music, too, while Drake – and his non-performing co-writer Ben Rowse – even employ the Family Guy-style cutaways trick to cram in extra punchlines. And it’s an even more apt comparison when given the cartoony nature of Drake’s acting.

The show can feel a little bit pleased with itself, but it’s got good grounds to, given the audacity of the venture and the craftsmanship of the execution. Even given the formula of a 007 romp, in Goose’s hands you can never be quite sure what’s coming next. Nor do they stick too closely to one parodic brief: there are side-swipes at the deserving likes of Dan Brown and Bono as well as wider satirical jabs: A rap about how porn is debasing society comes at a crucial plot point.

That the action is hurtling forever forward holds the attention.. you have no time to ponder any of the many WTF? moments before Hurricane Drake is off on another peculiar, unpredictable flight of fancy; you just have to submit to this force of nature, until it deposits you, dizzy but exhilarated, close to where you started.

Review date: 9 Aug 2015
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Assembly George Square