'Gary, I Love You'

An evening of absurdist musical theatre and award-winning stand up comedy

Presented by: GARY

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0	OXFORD: Modern Art
P	Saturday 20th May, 2023
N	7:00pm

Event information

Experimental musical duo, GARY (Octavia Freud - sardonic personal and political electronica and Phil Jarvis - Consignia comedy collective) present their debut stage show, 'Gary, I Love You' at Modern Art Oxford. It tells the story of Gary, a carpet salesperson from Basingstoke and his drunken lost weekend trip to Norway. It is narrated by Dave the seagull, a recovering chip addict. Set to a live soundtrack of weird synth jams, yob disco and Scandinavian doom metal, this is part political theatre, part absurdist musical about an everyman struggling to come to terms with his lack of agency in a broken country, whilst facing up to the consequences of abandoning the left for the price of a kebab.

Support comes from two award-winning stand up comedians on the London scene.

Andrew O'Neill is an award-winning comedian who has starred in Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. A psychedelic non-binary whirlwind, they combine surrealism, polemic and good old-fashioned stagecraft to produce uniquely counter-cultural stand-up. TV credits include Good Omens 2 (Summer 2023), Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Saxondale, 50 Years Of Rock Excess, The Blame Game, Spicks and Specks and Good News Week. Their own Radio 4 stand-up show Pharmacist Baffler won an award. A natural fit at music festivals, they have performed stand-up at Glastonbury, Download, Leeds and Reading, Bloodstock, Latitude, V-Fest and supported Amanda Palmer, Les Claypool and once even the Kaiser Chiefs at the London Palladium.

Serial innovator Michael Brunström explores a series of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic adaptations of a familiar refrain: a unique and unrepeatable experiment in mind-bending comedic delirium. Michael Brunström is a surrealist comedian based in London, a member of Weirdos Comedy Collective and winner of the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality. ***** 'A stunning piece of comedy' (Comedy to Watch). **** 'Sense-bendingly entertaining . . . great, crazy, never-to-be-forgotten comedy' (Scotsman). **** 'An artistic genius' (Skinny). 'Serial innovator' (Time Out). 'What the...?' (Metro).

Opening proceedings will be two exciting Oxford based stand ups.

Caitriona Dowden is an Oxford-based comedian rationalising her neuroticism through the medium of jokes. She mostly does standup so that someone will have to listen to her opinions about medieval history. She is a Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year semi-finalist, and Chortle Student Comedian of the Year finalist.

Nate Kitch thrusts aggressively into the absurd and against his own self and baffles audiences as he ploughs forward on his own path of surreal entropy. Described once as "Beckettian Clown" Nate steers clear of certainty and safe hands... but in times like these isn't this exactly what we need? Subject matter covered can include: Chess, Suprematism, Bags and Paper. “A real WTF? Comic” - Chortle “Off-beat, he might come up with something very special” - Beyond the Joke Finalist of the So You Think You are Funny 2021.

The evening is hosted by Vincent Lynch, Oxford’s most punctual comedian (written for BBC TV and radio) and joint host of Oxford comedy monthly Safe Hands.