Review

REVIEW: Archie Maddocks: MATCHSTICK – 5*

REVIEW: Archie Maddocks: MATCHSTICK – 5*

Radio Ha-Ha! talks Ha-Ha!

Written by Vanessa Maselino

Independent of who you are, or how many shows you’ve done; Edinburgh Fringe can sometimes prove to be an unforgiving place for anyone performing a stand-up routine. Whether it be the smaller crowd sizes, merciless hecklers, or that one person who sighs and walks out after the first sex pun. There are many elements that can make you feel as though you are quite possibly watching a comedian crash, burn, and reconsider their entire career, right in front of your eyes.

However, from the moment Archie Maddocks took to the stage, his confident and unfazed demeanour completely put the audience at ease. His natural and warm stage presence almost felt as though he had invited us to his home for dinner and decided to tell us a few stories around the table.

There is a divide over the first five minutes of a show in which many comedians ask the audience about themselves; what their names are, what they do for a living, how many times they’ve cried themselves to sleep – You know, the usual. Some people enjoy this aspect of audience participation, whilst others wish the comedian would launch straight into the show. Whether you disagree with this sequence or not, Archie’s crowd work showed his superb timing and quick wit. These first five minutes already let us know that we were in for a treat.

Progressing into the show, Archie’s conversational technique and impressive use of callbacks seemed effortless in this beautifully paced routine. Although he mentioned hard-hitting topics such as the Grenfell Tower, Archie’s seamless and charismatic storytelling meant that the audience were happy to follow along with his train of thought and have their emotions both weighted by the darker tones of this performance, but then immediately uplifted by his hilarious closing lines. Not many comedians can strike the right balance between comedy and tragedy or possess the skill to interject strong moral undertones in their performances. However, Archie does this in such a way, whereby the audience simply feel as though they have watched a hilarious show, which also happened to be rich in substance and food for thought. Rather than feeling as though they signed up for a comedy show, but were instead bombarded with reasons why the world is a terrible place and we’re all going to hell.

Amongst many other areas, Archie touched on subjects such as hang-ups about his body and the issues with growing up in a very class divided and elitist area of London. Both are personal topics, which that he explored with a refreshing and relatable edge.

Overall, Archie’s show can be defined by a wonderful moment I witnessed amongst the audience. After a bit of blue comedy, a group of older citizens were left cackling and sniggering away, like teenagers that had gotten a hold of their first ever porn magazine. It was a brilliant symbolism for ‘Matchstick’, because although they entered with faces resembling that of unimpressed sour lemons; Archie’s charisma and humour had completely reduced them to a state of unbridled joy and laughter. His ability to deeply connect with audience members irrespective of their race, gender, religion, or age; is why we recommend Archie Maddocks as a must-see show at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe.

Catch Archie Maddocks: Matchstick at Just the Tonic at The Mash House (Venue 288). Every day at 13:55 until the 26th August 2018. Grab your tickets here to guarantee entry: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/archie-maddocks-matchstick

Or pay what you want at the venue. Proceeds from this show are also being donated to the Grenfell Tower Campaign.

Radio Ha-Ha

August 13th, 2018

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