If there is one expectation and truth about Rhys Nicholson’s comedy shows, is that whatever happens in the room, whatever jokes are told, it will always be a memorable experience, and Big Huge Party Congratulations is no different.
Before Nicholson takes to the stage, Will Owen serves as a support act, detailing his employment experiences and some more general off-hand commentary about himself, utilising Gen-Z tropes and trends to give his material an almost nonchalant and self-deprecatory edge. What becomes clear as the evening progresses, that this is the perfect choice, as Owen’s style of anecdotal comedy is a similar if more restrained compliment to Nicholson’s theatricality. Owen has a strong sense of comedic timing that whilst falling into a noticeable rhythm, still manages to surprise us with the direction that a joke is taken in. Often the colour of context that he provides is as funny as the punchline, and serves as a nicely comical amuse-bouche for the rest of the show.
Nicholson has a unique ability to turn just about any statement into a joke, there’s no doubt about it. Often the lack of structure to their comedy gives them a lot of flexibility and dexterity to adapt and shift direction should a moment call for it or an ad-lib derail them. It’s a bit of a Shrödinger’s comedic structure ; it both exists and doesn’t. The hour and material appear to move along of its own accord, with segues appearing so seamlessly that they disappear into the rest of Nicholson’s somewhat chaotic storytelling. The hour moves along so imperceptibly that we can’t help just keep our eyes glued to the stage, lest we miss anything.
“such an enigmatic performer that they could read off their shopping list or narrate paint drying, and still find a way to have us in stitches. ”
It’s not just the one thing that makes Nicholson’s material funny, but the entire experience of watching them onstage, because it doesn’t appear like an act. It’s just their inherent and natural ability to just be funny that makes whatever they’re saying funny. It could be the element of showmanship or flair that characterises their overall performance, but the ability that Nicholson has to just make people laugh really just seems like an uncanny talent of theirs that comes to them as easily as breathing. Nicholson is just a comedian who can take something ordinary or mundane and turn it into some exceptional, a story, an experience.
There’s just so much energy in every aspect of their performance that manages to truly captivate, and has us hanging off their every word. Nicholson is such an enigmatic performer that they could read off their shopping list or narrate paint drying, and still find a way to have us in stitches. Because it’s not just a story or an anecdote that they’re telling at any given point; Nicholson really performs to us as if it’s the first time they are telling these jokes, and in creating that feeling, the hour just comes alive. There’s just so much energy in every aspect of this hour that manages to truly captivate, and has us hanging off Nicholson’s every word. They are such an enigmatic performer that they could read off their shopping list or narrate paint drying, and still find a way to have us in stitches.
It’s just an engaging and satisfyingly funny hour that exists with the persistent background noise of laughter. Big Huge Party Congratulations is just classic comedy gold, a show that you just have to be there for to understand the heights that a comedy performance – like the one Rhys Nicholson gives – can go.
Pepper & Salt 
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