Review: THOMAS GREEN: TANGENT

It’s ironic that a highly improvised show starts with a busted microphone stand, but for Thomas Green, it’s the perfect unintentional start to his latest show, TANGENT. Green, who was recently diagnosed with ADHD, allows the audience to dictate where the show goes based on a series of prompts pinned up on the wall. Having written more than an hour of material for the show, the ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ approach means that no two shows are ever the same. Through no fault of his own, Green’s show starts off disjointed; after the microphone stand is repaired, hecklers yelling out the names of Port Adelaide players from the 90s and hecklers heckling each other plague the first fifteen minutes of “the most Adelaide show ever”.

Despite these interruptions (and an eventual ejection), Green holds the audience’s attention with casual chats with members of the crowd and some truly hilarious facial expressions. Shows where the audience has sway over proceedings can always be a landmine, but the nature of TANGENT means it works – and works very well. Green effortlessly tells stories about pissing off priests at funerals, punching walls in his sleep, being jealous of schoolmates’ dinners and pranking the sons of Premier League footballers as a schoolteacher. The fact that there is no connecting tissue between stories is what makes the show work, with Green able to use his restless energy and instant rapport with the audience to deliver a highly memorable show.

THOMAS GREEN: TANGENT, The Howling Owl, until 16 March