Everyone tells you that it’s impossible to describe Paul Currie and their act. Currie himself told us that their art and comedy is like “a screaming hysteric water slide ride of joy all the way back to your childhood” – it’s as apt a description as we can think of. I might offer the definition of his genre: acting like an eejit onstage for half an hour – and it’s a glorious half hour.
Battling the heat The Pavement’s open stage, and with head mic issues, Currie manages to deliver what is undoubtedly one of the best Theatre and Circus sets of the weekend. Such is the following that Currie is building, their set must be the only set across the Theatre and Circus fields that sees someone attend with a famous Glastonbury flag dedicated to a moment in Currie’s set, i.e. the Panda Hands.
One of the best things about Currie is their ability to react to a comment or something that is happening. A highlight is an improvised song about the middle aisle of Lidl in the style of an Irish jig that becomes a pub song, including foot-stomping, which is inspired by a question from the audience about the Lidl branded bumbag Currie wears throughout the set.
The other thing is his quotable quips; ‘a Belfast man hanging you explosions… happy ones,’ he says as he hands out party poppers. As he instructs the audience to use their hands in the style of pan pipes, he suggests that “you finger pipe me, I’ll finger pipe you – it’s a cross-community thing.”
In between the improv and the quips, there is a hilarious half-hour of gags and physical comedy. By the end of his set, he’s drawn in probably the largest crowd The Pavement will get this weekend… until their next set.
