Melbourne comedy festival review by Steve Bennett

New Zealand comedy has come to be defined by a sort of underplayed, charming awkwardness, from Flight Of The Conchords downwards… and we might as well get that obligatory reference to the folk duo despatched with right from the start.

But how much of Paul Williams’ endearing clumsiness is planned, and how much is accidental, is difficult to ascertain from this slightly chaotic opening night performances. 

He kicks the video cable out of his projector, starts a song in the wrong key, displays slides saying ‘double click to edit’ on them, and has to restart a video several times. He pleas for leniency from critics after being forced to sing his closing number a cappella because his keyboard gives up the ghost completely.

But it doesn’t really matter. Firstly, because his shambolically scatty persona is such a delight; and secondly because his singing voice is so strong he needs no accompaniment. Each one of the carefully rationed songs here is a stand-out both lyrically and in his performance, for Williams is a Bona Fide musician with a ‘straight’ album to his name, not a dabbler chancing his arm

Despite the title, his Melbourne debut is not a tribute to Sabrina’s 1987 Europop classic Boys (Summertime Love), even though it starts that way, but a guide to dating – at least in name. A universal, if slightly hack, subject, it provides him with a framework to consider the world of relationships, project a low-status, romantic image of a man seeking love, and to reminisce about his primary school crush whom he planned to impress with a talent show performance to a Michael Jackson classic that did NOT go as planned.

It’s a warm, laid-back show – even the limited bit of audience participation is gentle and consensual – with some wry, understated running jokes. He has some quirky obsessions, such as the fringe US rock band Good Charlotte, and offbeat one-liners, the best of which he shares as a list of opinions you might want to offer on a first date.

This first night was loose, even, I suspect, by his standards, but this is a strong debut from a congenial performer with a pleasingly dry sense of humour.  

Review date: 10 Apr 2018
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival