It seems that Jason Wood has had access to Graeme Norton’s Wardrobe, but only the section labelled ‘Why on earth did I buy that?’. Fortunately attention is quickly drawn away from the hideous suit by his commanding presence.
A lot of gay comics go for the screaming queen approach and flounce around for an hour of high camp antics, lording their sexuality over everyone, but Bare Camp is about everyone celebrating in their own campness, however repressed so Wood’s goes for a more subtle approach to sexuality. He isn’t afraid to flaunt it, but tends to slip it in subtlety rather than shove it down your throat.
Despite being a musical comedy show performed by a gay guy, Woods repertoire shys away from the usual trappings of Bassey and Andrews and goes for a wider range of songs, including Allison Moyet, Pavarotti and David Gray, which suit his amazing vocal talent perfectly.
It is also safe to say that Wood’s musical interludes are the highlight of the show as the comedy essentially acts as a filler between numbers and is quite directionless. It’s all very scatty and off the cuff but Wood’s does show some moments of true brilliance as he rips into the audience. Tonight is a good night as Wood’s manages to single out a butch guy called Tracie, a couple who split up that afternoon and a girl he cruelly refers to as Jade. It seems as though nobody is safe when the claws come out, but everyone takes it in good humour as Wood’s makes his little digs.
It’s obvious that this approach won’t work with every crowd, but it shows that Wood does have a wealth of talent waiting to be tapped.
Unfortunately, with so many similar shows around, Bare Camp does nothing to rise above the crowd. His vocal talent stomps all over his contemporaries attempts, but the lack of narrative makes the whole show a little tedious.
3/5
Richard Biggs
