As Eddie Izzard proved at the recent Edinburgh leg of the Live8 concerts, not all comedians can handle the mercurial nature of an unscripted live performance. Some comics excel at ‘their thing’ but as soon as the proverbial spanner hits the machinery they flounder. However, some stand-ups automatically rise to the challenge and turn the unexpected into real comedy gold. Al Pitcher is one such performer.
On the night in question, Pitcher was aiming to enlighten us on his role as the Wolf Catcher – a self-imposed moniker related to avenging his departed brother – but the hen night in the audience had different ideas.
From the off, Pitcher was engaging his audience on a one-to-one basis but quickly found that a certain group had no respect for scripted comedy and took every opportunity to throw in a confusing heckle. As the hour wore on other spectators rose to the bait and added further commentary to the proceedings. The result should have been a complete debacle but, to his credit, Pitcher largely took this is his stride and turned every obtuse remark into a new line of thought, no matter how confusing it turned out to be.
Essentially, his act was ruined but the plucky New Zealander rose to the occasion and managed to salvage the show from potential devastation. As a result, it is actually impossible to comment on Wolf Catcher as a concept, as the details were lost in a cacophony of back row banter, but, judging purely as a performer you can stand in front of a drunken audience, Pitcher is a genius. His sheer ability to deal with a hard audience is amazing and the overall mark for this show belittles his actual ability. I can’t fully recommend his performance at the Café Royal but I would recommend catching him at one of the late night showcases.
3/5
Richard Biggs
