A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Britain

I’ll admit at the outset of this review that I have a distinctly positive bias towards useless facts – especially when interlaced with delicious comedy. On that basis, I’m always likely to look favourably on a performance like this one.

It helps that New Zealand comedian O’Sullivan is immensely funny, driven by a punchy and energetic style. He has created a fast-paced script, supported by slides that accentuate the delivery and set the audience up for laughs from the start. Without giving too much away, we’re entertained by the English nickname for people from Hartlepool, the national animals of England, Scotland, and Wales, and O’Sullivan’s take on the most quintessentially British landmarks.

Of course, it’s difficult to do a show containing facts without at least one person in the audience knowing the answer to the questions he raises. O’Sullivan’s use of the audience to augment his performance is masterful. He doesn’t let our involvement in the narrative overpower, instead balancing and blending it into his carefully crafted storyline, barely missing a beat as information comes thick and fast from the audience that is then incorporated into the comedy.

The show itself is clearly premised on the widely known ability of Great Britain’s populace to reflect on their own culture and laugh at themselves. There are more than a few British expats in O’Sullivan’s audience. On this basis, there is indeed some risk in the material; it is unlikely that A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Putin’s Russia would land with the same effectiveness. It’s a reflection on his considered writing that the comedy never crosses the line from humour to insult, nor does it rely on negative personality tropes.

Interactive, intimate, and informative, O’Sullivan’s New Zealand Fringe Festival performance of A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Britain offers an entertaining journey across Great Britain with a different perspective.