Gary Le Strange : Beef Scarecrow

For those who have not had the Gary le Strange experience before, he is a creation of Warren Shepherd’s mind. Gary is the pretentious rock artist who wants to move on to be the all round intellectual, and he seriously believes that he is achieving all his aspirations.

Despite this new outlook he is quite unashamedly promoting his latest album, including the songs Secret Wolf, Day of the Maggots and of course the title track Beef Scarecrow. You can judge for yourself whether these offerings are mind blowing and perceptive or just nonsense.

In between the songs, he shares with us examples of his artistic development. He shows an example of his painting which we, the audience, know is rubbish. His samples of his poetry and writing are extremely funny but he believes they are seriously good.

In terms of comedy I would have preferred more of the exploration of the le Strange character and fewer songs. This show is one of the most difficult to award stars. It is certainly inventive and performed with conviction, but to some it might leave cold as being too way out, others will think it marvelous. So be warned.

****

Venue & Venue number

Underbelly Belly Button V61

Dates

3 to 27 August 2006 (not 15)

Times

18.45 to 19.40

Company

Underbelly productions

Fringe Programme page number; 36