Review: THE PREACHER, Anthony Noack - Edinburgh Fringe (Online)

Performed remotely to no audience, comedian David ‘Dave’ Davidson struggles with maintaining the momentum of his act, but with a dose of communal wine and a little effort, he takes the audience along on his journey, questioning an absurd and unfair world.

Adapted and performed by Anthony Noack, The Preacher is a theatrical interpretation of a stand-up comedy show incorporating the full text of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.

The language and style used is more modern than biblical, having combined the King James version of text with entirely new translations, so it’s not like sitting in church listening to an actual preacher.

However, it is still quite hard to digest the material and what is understood seems more satirical than laugh out loud funny.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is known as a reality check for the modern world.  The author having used it as a tool to put his powers of wisdom in place to examine the human experience.  This does come across in Noack’s performance, showing that concerns and worries are constant, but it does feel like the audience needs to think a lot about what is being said and interpret it themselves rather than the easier absorption of typical stand-up.

Its target audience is quite specific, but it feels like some of the added ‘jokes’ wouldn’t be appreciated by that demographic (there is what seems like a very long fart gag!)

Whilst the relevance can be seen, it is a tough watch, which could have been helped had it been in front of a live audience.

If you’re looking for something different, maybe this would be relevant.

** Two stars.

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

The Preacher is available at Fringe Online.