By BRUCE DENNILL
Nik Rabinowitz: Geriatric Millennial / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg
The title of Nik Rabinowitz’s new show suggests something about ageing and the possibilities of that process slowing one down, mentally or physically. To the surprise of absolutely no-one, such a prospect is patently irrelevant in terms of the Cape Town comic’s intellectual acuity and physical capacity to remain a stand-up (rather than sit or slouch) comedian.
The other connotation of that term – stand-up – is that it implies a show in which the whole set-up involves one performer and a microphone, with a bar stool and a glass of water the full extent of the stage accoutrements. The further implication here is that there are no tricks available to distract the audience – no sets or lights or costumes or gimmicks. It’s just a performer, their set and the way they deliver it on any given night, perhaps tweaking things slightly according to audience reactions or interactions with specific punters.
Rabinowitz’s delivery makes it difficult to know exactly what is planned and what is improvised, with searing insight alongside apparent confusion as to his place in his script and unflinching commentary paired with grins and giggles as he enjoys how silly or amusing an observation he’s just made actually is.
The theme suggested by the show’s title is only barely referred to with a couple of gags about needing reading glasses and similar. Current affairs, in terms of politics and trending topics that audiences are always told they’re supposed to care about, are only briefly represented – memorably in a bit about Helen Zille and her alleged interest in being the mayor of Johannesburg. Other recurring ideas involve death (assisted dying in sunny Switzerland) and family (favourite versus regulation children; the patience of a long-suffering wife).
Beyond those, without taking copious notes, it’s difficult to declare with any great certainty what Rabinowitz was actually talking about for over an hour. This is the opposite of a criticism; it speaks to the immersive quality of Rabinowitz’s engagement with his audience and how enjoyable his storytelling is – he could literally be talking about anything and it would be entertaining, provided he was doing it in his inimitable style.
What is easy to remember is that you laugh almost non-stop for the entire duration of the show; that Rabinowitz’s delivery is both (and sometimes somehow simultaneously) confrontational and gentle, both empathetic and excoriating; and that much of the appeal of coming to one of his shows is that seeing the world through such a filter of admirable acumen is entertaining in its own right, even before the punchlines land.
Rabinowitz is always funny and never cruel – the best kind of consistent. For that reason alone, go and see his latest show, whatever it says below his name on the poster.