Place on bill: 2nd
Act
Venue: Barnstormers – Capitol
Arts Centre, Horsham
Date of show:15th May 2005
Andy White is such a nice looking
young man; not only attractive (as my wife felt obliged to tell me but not in those exact words) but so
pleasant and ‘clean’.
Soft spoken, sporting a fixed charming smile and killer afro he simply
schmoozes the audience with affability and confidence. Anything White says will
be accepted and laughed at when he flashes that grin after each delivery. It’s
all silly; we know it, we know he knows it and that makes it all alright.
His material starts, predictably, by self-ridiculing his main focus of
attention which is his huge hair; this then leads into surviving his childhood
with his paradoxical name and it seems that White’s material mirrors his
appearance and he might be a non-contentious comedian in a world of politics,
psychoses, innuendo and smut.
But his manner and opening material is just to get people comfortable
with his overall style then, every now and again, he slips in something slightly
more off-kilter to make sure everyone is paying attention. Again, it’s just
manic silliness but with an added edge of naughtiness.
On one level the clash of amiability and smut just doesn’t feel right;
it’s unsettling – a bit like listening to your mother talk graphically about her
sex life; it’s not right that someone so pure should be sullied by such language
and visuals - but on another level it provides a good contrast that gives a bolt
out of the blue to keep the audience on their toes and allows White some added
versatility and an ever evolving set.
