Chris Cox – Mind Over Patter
New Zealand International Comedy Festival Review
The idea of comedy mixed in with mind reading isn’t one which I wasn’t particularly looking forward to. But it’s nice to be proven wrong – because at the end of this one hour preview show which starts this week at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival (unaffected by volcanic ash since April 2010), I wanted more.
Cox is an English self-confessed weedy looking sort of a guy who can seriously bust a move to Beyonce when needed – but his act claims to make the impossible possible, and an imperfect world, a little more perfect.
And for an hour or so, he’s right.
Mind Over Patter is a heady mix of psychological manipulation and confidence tricks, coupled with some great audience interaction and a few technological moments thrown in to keep the iGeneration happy.
Aside from the continuing puns on his surname (every participant gets a badge emblazoned with the words I Love Cox on), Chris Cox wins you over within minutes of getting on stage.
He is instantly at ease with an audience and has a comment ready for every – and any – occasion (eg he asks if there are any vegetarians in the audience; when one puts up a hand, he quips – ‘How do you find the energy?’) – and while some of these lines may seem corny, (and in retrospect they are) they manage to get everyone on side. My advice to you is if you’re approached to be part of this show, embrace it full on – or you won’t get as much out of it.
I don’t want to go too far into the meat and veg of this show for fear of spoilers, but let’s just say if you don’t leave pondering “How did he do that?” and smiling stupidly, you’re probably not going to enjoy any comedy over the next 3 or so weeks.
