"Gibbs
is a top-level performer, seamlessly switching from smart
wordplay, to snappy ad libs. This is one sequel that works."
Review by Wab Kinew, CBC
Following up on his Fringe play of three years ago, Antoine
Feval, UK writer/performer Chris Gibbs once again channels
the memories of his great-great-grandfather, Barnaby Gibbs.
It seems Barnaby was the bumbling sidekick of Antoine Feval,
a Victorian cat burglar who masqueraded as a detective.
The story unfolds as the pair go on a thrilling dash through
the criminal underground of London.
Chris Gibbs is a born Fringe performer. He inhabits the
characters like a master storyteller, and keeps the energy
and laughs going throughout. When the audience is stitches
just for your soundcheck, it's not a bad sign.
In the end, Gibbs is a top-level performer, seamlessly switching
from smart wordplay, to snappy ad libs. This is one sequel
that works.
(5 STARS)
"a
sly, stylish, and highly literate little gem...The writing
is very funny. And the way it comes to life, culminating
in a climactic action sequence through east end London,
has a dizzy intricacy that will make you laugh very hard,
but afraid to laugh too loud in case you miss something."
Review by Liz Nicholls, Edmonton
Journal
Four years ago we met Chris Gibbs’s Victorian-era forebear,
one Barnaby Gibbs, a guileless and worshipful Dr. Watson
to a detective of Sherlockian brilliance, Antoine Feval.
Barnaby had first met Feval accidentally, late at night
upstairs in a London house when the latter was mysteriously
shovelling jewels into a sack and attempting to leave through
the window. Barnaby naturally leaped to the conclusion that
the man must be a detective. A discipleship is born. Barnaby
Gibbs is back, the presiding voice and (wide) eyes through
which we experience The Further Adventures of Antoine Feval.
The show is a sly, stylish, and highly literate little gem,
in which the dexterous Gibbs (Chris, that is) does fancy
footwork through a maze of asides and delicate anachronisms
about the fortunes of a present-day Fringe comic named Chris
Gibbs, without ever shattering the elaborate conventions
of Victorian storytelling. There can’t be a more skilled
practitioner anywhere of the odd art of sustaining the joke
of the misinformed narrator who spectacularly misapprehends
everything in his own story. In confidential tones that
not only acknowledge the modern-day audience, but embrace
us, our witless protagonist cheerfully acknowledges his
own limitations, as he dreams of “a new life where I’m actually
successful at things.” The writing is very funny. And the
way it comes to life, culminating in a climactic action
sequence through east end London, has a dizzy intricacy
that will make you laugh very hard, but afraid to laugh
too loud in case you miss something.
(5 STARS)
"hilarious…
his distinctive dry humour and deadpan delivery is limitless."
Review By Kevin Prokosh, Winnipeg
Free Press
Fringe favourite Chris Gibbs returns in this hilarious sequel
to again play his ancestor Barnaby Gibbs, the simpleton
sidekick to a suspicious detective named Antoine Feval.
Barnaby is a doltish loser whose limited powers of deduction
leave him blind to the fact Feval is the notorious cat burglar
terrorizing London.
The 70-minute mystery spoof is all about this Victorian
Clouseau, "a man of ample limitations." Not so
with Gibbs the performer, whose appeal for his distinctive
dry humour and deadpan delivery is limitless. His story
is hardly gripping, but the telling is. He will matter-of-factly
set a scene and mention an occasional table and then blithely
toss off the line, "I don't know what it is the rest
of the year."
His abilities as an ace improviser were never more on display
than during a recent performance when he had to contend
with a baby's cooing and a spectator who fainted on the
way to the washroom. The former he gladly ad-libbed into
his monologue, while the latter he respectfully worked around
to the appreciation of the sold-out house.
(5 STARS)
"As
well as having few equals as a comic performer, Gibbs is
also a talented storyteller"
Review by Terry Moor, UMFM,
Winnipeg
In this sequel to Antoine Feval, Chris Gibbs returns in
the role of Barnaby Gibbs, narrating some more of his memories
of the time he spent with the great detective Antoine Feval.
For those of you who haven't seen the original, Antoine
Feval is not really a detective at all. He is a burglar
who, despite being caught red handed by Barnaby, manages
to convince him that he is in reality a famous detective,
thanks to Barnaby's incredible naivety. In this instalment,
Barnaby is still labouring under this delusion, and is financing
Feval's nonexistent detective agency. Like the original,
this is also a very funny play. Barnaby Gibbs and Antoine
Feval are wonderful comic creations, and Chris Gibbs gets
great comic mileage from Feval's consistent ability to pull
the wool over Barnaby's eyes. The plot, though secondary,
is absurd and fast moving, adding an element of structure
to Gibbs's free wheeling comedy. As well as having few equals
as a comic performer, Gibbs is also a talented storyteller,
easily drawing the audience into his narrative with his
engaging style. Chris Gibbs is as about as close as you
can get to a sure thing at the Fringe. You can always count
on him to deliver a show that will keep you in stitches,
and this show is no exception.