"One
man, but lots of laughs"
Review by Tom Murray, Edmonton
Journal
When you take your seat at the Varscona Hotel, you'll notice
Chris Gibbs right away. He's the bulge behind the curtains
directly in front of you. It's his green room, you see.
He runs the lights, starts the music and has a self-deprecating,
digressive tone that leads you to believe you're in for
an hour of mild comedy that might elicit a chuckle or two.
Until it starts to get darker and more awkward, and you
find yourself helplessly laughing at horrific anecdotes,
disturbing balloon tricks and odd observations that lead
to absurd conversational cul-de-sacs.
Gibbs is a born-and-bred native of London, England, now
living in Toronto, and he's got lots to say on topics like
accents, inadvertently mocking the homeless, condolence
cards and self-help books. He does this in such a polite
manner that you're unprepared for the sucker punch behind
it, just as you'll likely be unprepared for the result of
his one piece of physical comedy, one that has a sting to
it. Often Fringe plays, especially one-man shows, can sag
a little in the middle; this one was taut and funny all
the way through.
(4 1/2 STARS)
"quite
simply the most solid bang for your comedy buck going."
Review by Dean Jenkinson, CBC
In my humble opinion, Chris Gibbs is quite simply the most
solid bang for your comedy buck going. This Brit-turned-Canuck
packs as many big laughs per minute into his hour-and-a-quarter
stand-up show as anyone.
Is it "about something?" Not really. Gibbs talks
about Canada, being a British immigrant, his dad's funeral,
and sympathy cards, among other things. He also does some
funny balloon animals, performs some improbable acrobatics,
and muses over some props he brought along.
On paper that might not sound like a five-star show, but
believe me when I tell you - if you ask me "I want
to see something funny; what should I see?" ... this
is the show.
Funny, funny, funny.
(5 STARS)
"comic
stand-up gold"
Review by Bruce DeMara, Toronto
Star
That's gibberish with hard "g" - as in Chris Gibbs,
an English expat who's made Toronto home. His one-man show
has earned a well-deserved reputation on the fringe circuit
for keeping audiences laughing pretty much non-stop.
Looking like the archetypical Brit in a conservative olive
green business suit and tie, Gibbs opens the show by performing
some truly impressive physical stunts before huffing and
sweating his way through a strong hour-long routine that
touches a range of unexpectedly hilarious topics, including
German accents, sympathy cards, "inbred" royalty
and the Toronto Maple Leaves (which is, after all, more
grammatically sound). Deliberately tentative and twitchy,
and darkly gleeful at times, his hand-wringing style and
sotto voce asides are comic stand-up gold.
(Highly Recommended)
"ridiculous
and intelligent"
Review by Colin McLean, Edmonton
Sun
For any onomasticians (someone who studies names) who may
be reading this tract -- the pronunciation is Gibber- ish
(as in Chris Gibbs), not Jibb-er-ish.
Chris Gibbs is a dapper,
genial English pixie who consistently is one of the funniest
comics on the Fringe circuit. And by now audiences know
it. He inevitably plays to sold-out houses -- that is if
you can find him tucked away as he is in the Bennet Room
of the Varscona Hotel.
His act is one of the few that can leave an audience convulsed
with laughter as he pyramids joke on joke.
If you've seen any of his previous shows you know what I'm
saying. Actually, Gibbs has not been here for three years
or so and this time out his performance is a bit different.
He has told us of experiencing his first child, he has espoused
the power of ignorance and related the adventures of a bumbling
proto- Holmesian, Antoine Feval.
Now he is returning to a previous career -- that of stand-up
comic (although he promises a dramatic show-within- a-show).
Wacky though he is, Gibbs is not a vaudevillian. There is
always a cleverness to his shows. He can be ridiculous and
intelligent at the same time -- not an easy marriage of
techniques.
Given the sophistication of his presentation, it's hard
to imagine he got his start creating balloon animals as
a British street performer.
Gibbs' timing is extraordinary. He's not given to the grand
gesture but more to a well-chosen minimalist form of expression.
Mind you, he was also a gymnast and has been known to enliven
a show with an impressive back-flip or two..
He comes across as an everyman Tom Hanks, albeit with a
rapid-fire mind that ricochets off everything around him
like a human Gatling gun. He has a playful self-deprecating
humour, pompously setting himself up and then puncturing
his own balloon.
I could tell you about his ingenious introduction but I
won't because you gotta be there. He tells us he is not
going to embarrass anyone or tell sex and racist jokes.
Does he stick to it? Well, I wouldn't bring my German mother-in-law.
He tells us he hasn't been here for a while because he's
doing more TV. Repairing them, that is. He hilariously compares
Canadian, English, German and American accents.
You start laughing in the first few seconds and don't stop
until -- well, you gotta see that big climax.
(4 1/2 STARS)
"bumbling
self-mockery, ridiculously clownish physical comedy and
an extremely keen observational wit"
Review by John Kendle, Uptown
Magazine, Winnipeg
Oh, where to begin? At the beginning, I suppose… let
me explain… Chris Gibbs is a transplanted Brit, a
talented improviser, acrobat, street performer, actor and
comedian who does and says funny things in hilariously self-deprecating
fashion. He comes on in suit-and-tie, admits his fondness
for chocolate cake and, just when you think he’s sincerely
explaining what’s about to happen, he’s actually
doing it, with laugh-riot results.
And that’s his magic. Gibberish is a remounted (though
thoroughly updated) version of a one-man show that won Best
of the Fringe honours here in 2002 and it’s basically
a tour-de-force presentation of all the man’s talents
— bumbling self-mockery, ridiculously clownish physical
comedy and an extremely keen observational wit (wait for
his bit on the French word for ‘bats’). Don’t
miss it.
(Rating A+)