Ben Pope: The Cut

Assembly George Square

There is a slight element of risk to Ben Pope’s The Cut. If a comedian is talented enough and crafts a joke well, the risk of taking a big swing with a punchline or topic can pay off in a very major way. The Cut is an example of when the opposite happens

 

The Cut is a show about loss, with Pope using various stories and metaphors to explore this theme  over the course of an hour, using every anecdote and tangent as a building block to fully analyse every aspect and thread holding together the two main narratives that intertwine throughout this show.

 

Over the course of the hour, just as there are truly ridiculous moments, Pope crafts ones that have a more quiet pathos to them, as our emotional state is very much conducted and swayed by him, a control that he keeps a very tight grip on. There is an element of reflection to this hour, and even when Pope deviates into elements that are perhaps more stream-of consciousness based or of high octane comedy, he still gives a very measured performance, slowly unravelling each the thematic relevancy of each aspect that he brings into The Cut. His material has a restrained whimsy that is buoyed by the manic gleam in his eye and his overall demeanour of someone tempting you with an indulgence that his punchlines are littered with. Pope clearly is a witty comedic writer, a fact demonstrated just by the merit of him not relying heavily on euphemism, which would be an easy cop-out for him considering the subject matter, instead choosing to pursue and build material that adds a his own twist to commonly tread paths and descriptions of the ordinary. 

“a restrained whimsy that is buoyed by the manic gleam in his eye and his overall demeanour of someone tempting you with an indulgence”

Sometimes all it can take is one ill-thought out, off-hand comment to ruin a show and bring us right out into reality, so that no longer do we feel a part of a show but rather stuck on the outside forced to contend with the reality of what is being said. Very early on in The Cut, Pope has such a moment. What has been building towards some very clever observational tangents of just uniquely hilarious insight is unfortunately cut short when Pope decides to make a joke that is just so jarring that it ultimately distracts from everything else as we parse what Pope means by what he has said, because the context of a comedy show is not enough of an excuse to dismiss it out of hand. Now, it may just be a comment made in poor-taste, but the implications are distracting enough to occupy our thoughts for the remainder of the hour. This ultimately distracts from the rest of the show, bringing extreme discomfort and essentially colouring our perception and enjoyment of the rest of The Cut, as well as undermining our ability to once more suspend our disbelief in the name of comedy.

 

The Cut is a technically good show, Pope uses various techniques to intersperse tangents into his overarching narrative that further the thematic and storytelling throughline. It is just tough to laugh at, as the material is not funny enough to completely overwrite any lasting discomfort. 

 

By Katerina Partolina Schwartz

Photo Credit: Mark Jones