Joel Salom’s Gadgets

Just had a very entertaining evening at Downstage watching Joel Salom’s Gadgets, which is part of the comedy festival. It is on at Downstage until Saturday.

Salom reminds me of a cross between Jim Carrey, and Mr Bean. Physically, he is a delight to watch with his frantic antics. He is literally a comic. His two sidekicks work well with him, and between them they are a great act.

His show has a lot of juggling in it from ping pong balls to flaming torches. He is a very accomplished juggler, and he also manages to stuff multiple ping pong balls into his mouth, which must be painful.

The highlight for me was Erik the robot dog/god. You will love Erik, both when he looms large on the screen, and in real life.

There is a fair bit of audience interaction with Joel. Be careful if a spotlight shines on your seat! And the juggling musical laser display at the end is impressive.

The only negative for me was the initial segment with the ping pong balls stretched on a bit too long. But it was a minor minor flaw in a very enjoyable performance. I can happily recommend it for people who want a fun evening with lots of laughs.

A minor gripe, not associated with the performance, is that the seats were not assigned (possibly only applied to this first night) which means we were encouraged to turn up early to get good seats. However those who turned up and entered early were told to go to the back of the theatre, and sit in the sides, not the middle. So the “reward” for getting there early was to be shunted to a corner at the back. Not very logical.

Was very amused that the pair next to us overhead me joking to my companion that I would not buy an engagement ring until I was 65, as it will be much cheaper once I retire (based on the three months salary rule). They took it rather seriously  and started lecturing me on not being such a cheap bastard