Strassman

Published Friday 16 February 2007 at 17:00 by Natasha Tripney

David Strassman has made a career out of dragging the art of ventriloquism away from its end-of-the-pier roots and proving that, when done well, it can be as sharp and bitingly funny as conventional stand-up. To do this, he employs a series of dummies - the faintly demonic Chuck Wood, who not only swears but spits as well when riled, front row take note, the permanently befuddled Ted E. Bare and the borderline racist Grandpa Fred.

Strassman plays the straight man to all these characters in such a nonchalant fashion that it’s easy to overlook the considerable technical skill involved. This show works especially well when he uses it to examine the duality of his profession, when his puppets confront him with the fact that his job essentially involves standing on stage and having a conversation with himself.

In addition to his skills as a ventriloquist, Strassman also knows a thing or two about robotics, which helps add a sinister twist to the show’s later moments. True, the obligatory audience participation sequence feels like it could have been developed further and some of this material will be familiar if you’ve seen him perform before but this is a winningly dark and nasty show - fast-paced and very entertaining.