Chad is a viral social media star and the new self-help guru dude on the block. He calms down instantly by looking at pictures of boobs and fully embodies his mission in life: to help everyone achieve peak stoke. Massive appreesh.
The more I think about this show, the more I find myself utterly confounded. Why am I so fascinated with it? What about this chill, ADHD-scrambled surfer dude Chad (pronounced with a long “ah” / rhymes with “rod”) is so endearing? Why am I so tickled by his dumb mis-pronunciation and simplification of words, let alone his shameless creation of inanely stupid new ones?
My best guess is that Chad is offering – through such brilliantly and easefully executed clownwork, you wonder if he’s even aware of it – a very new, very loving way of accessing and embracing masculinity. Instead of trying to present any kind of toned, tanned, or gym-rat-science-bro authority, Chad is entirely fine being himself.
In fact, his flops are his shining moments, precisely because he neither makes an effort to hide them nor to blow them up to unnecessary proportions. At one point, his voice cracked. Instead of ploughing on, he saw us see him make the mistake, touched a hand to his throat in his curious, ever-relaxed way, and reached for his water bottle. “Whoa. Dude.” He took a sip, fully enjoying the moment and letting us enjoy it with him. With a simple, quiet “heck yeah,” he proceeded with his “semenar” on the path to full stoke while we all laughed at what really should not have been funny. He’s a genius.
His creation of a new vocabulary and flagrant disregard for the proper pronunciation of words is also just downright hilarious and so smooth on the delivery, it’s impossible to separate Chad from Chad. I’m fully convinced he’s the same guy on the inside as he is on the outside. It’s not an act. He’s just Chad – a surfer dude who is such an Ambassador of Chill, he can’t be bothered to say full words, let alone use real ones. Which means it’s stupidly easy to trust and love this guy.
It’s also worth mentioning that he also includes his fiancé in a lot of the semenar, which, as a young woman myself who is very wary of the hyper-masculine self-help influencers out there (especially the ones that like to make powerpoints chock full of boobs and dicks), made me trust him even more! It is so clear that he’s not out here trying to woo anyone with any kind of it single-presenting, know-it-all sex appeal. Chad doesn’t even try. Because Chad never tries. Anything. And it’s so refreshing.
The Chad I met last night is as happy to include his sweet personal life as he is to talk about how his main career goal is to become tan and how calm he gets when he sees a pair of tits. In his own lovely dumb way, he makes you wonder what you’re worried about or burning out over and why it might be totally sick to ditch your worries for a life of Peak Stoke. This dude is doing the real work in calming us all down and chilling us toward enlightenment, so get some tickets for this limited run before they sell out.
Massive appreesh, Chad!
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/chad-goes-deep-chill-towards-enlightenment
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Venue: The Crate, Assembly @ George Square
Dates: Aug 5th -19th (limited run)
Time: 21:45
Ticket prices: £17.50/ concession: £16.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 18+