Comedy review: An Evening With Noel Fielding, Dunfermline

Noel Fieldings new show sees him back on form. Picture: Getty

AFTER the Mighty Boosh’s disappointing tour six years ago, and the decidedly mixed bag of surrealism that is Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy on Channel 4, this is a puckishly engaging return to live performance from the forever childlike comic. Bemoaning turning 41, Fielding’s gripes aren’t those of most middle-aged stand-ups. Rather, he shares his hurt at being cuckolded by a triangle and generally marvels that so far into his career, he’s still allowed to indulge his technicolor imagination.

An Evening With Noel Fielding - Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline

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A bizarre, spaghetti western monologue in which he declares himself a “chicken man”, cockily strutting around the stage, is a typical Fielding triumph of performance and visual imagery over logic, or even recognisable gags. He acknowledges as much by having Zorro-era Antonio Banderas (Tom Meeten) suggest it’s more of a “concept than a joke”, and in turn, introduces his brother, Michael Fielding, as Hawkeye, a mini-skirted compound of bird and tennis line judge technology, who nevertheless finds favour with his sibling.

As the show develops, it moves increasingly away from stand-up into something altogether more ill-defined and theatrical. Favourite characters like Fantasy Man and simpleton The Moon reward fans’ love of them with big, bold, daft appearances in a knockabout storyline wherein Fielding is kidnapped and brash New York Sergeant Raymond Boombox wades through the audience trying to find the culprit.

This entertaining, infectiously fun show goes a long way towards re-establishing Fielding as a dynamic and vital act.

JAY RICHARDSON

Seen on 22.10.14