Callum Jones’ one-man parody show takes the overly-serious film noir style and turns it on its head
The Strange Affair of Paul is an entirely amusing affair. Callum Jones’ one-man parody show takes the overly-serious film noir style and turns it on its head. Conspiracy theories, an incredibly strange detective, and a never ending stream of metaphors and jokes; everything you need for an entertaining evening at the theatre.
The show’s plot is very simple: one mans’ trip down the rabbit hole to find out why Paul had so little screen time on The Traitors Australia. Positively pointless, yes, but that’s part of what makes it so enjoyable. Despite being the silliest of subjects, the manner in which Jones’ presents his ‘investigation’ draws the audience in. Not only are the viewers laughing at Jones’ ridiculous behaviour and witty metaphors, we find ourselves genuinely curious as to why Paul got so little screen time!
Jones is a gifted comedic actor; he is wonderfully expressive and his jokes always land. The accent he used, a mimicry of the classic noir detective, had the unfortunate effect of muddling some of his words and decreasing their impact. As the show went on, his repetitive nervous gestures became apparent and irksome; further thought should have gone into the variation of his movement so that he was not thumbing his nose with the delivery of every other line.
The show has an interesting layout as it uses a projection screen to play between flashbacks and his current retelling. The projections included video of Jones living the preceding events as well as the ‘evidence’ he collected during his inquiries. Initially very effective, the screen became something of a handicap to Jones. The quality of his performance in the clips of his memories starkly contrasted with the performance he gave on stage; his film performance was absurdly over-the-top to a point where it became obnoxious. The show also suffered from poor quality voiceovers and sound effects which were garbled through the speakers. The recordings and voice overs were used far too liberally and wound up detracting from the otherwise enjoyable performance.
A trivial plot, an amusing actor, a great many one liners all culminate in The Strange Affair of Paul. Callum Jones’ shows potential as a theatre maker; his one-man show is the perfect light-hearted show to catch after a pint or two.
Light-hearted, nonsensical fun!