2010 Edinburgh Fringe
Marcel Lucont review
Unless he'd said "my name is Marcel, I am 13 years old, may I have a baguette please", I'm afraid my year 7 French wasn't going to be able to understand a word of the off-stage intro to this show. Alas.
Lucont laconically strolls onto stage, barefoot, and dressed akin to the Gainsbourg of comedy, and proceeds to pour the obligatory glass of red, atop the checked tablecloth onstage. It's certainly an entrance to the busy venue on a Saturday night. Speaking to a few of the audience members before the show, having never heard of him but seen him as part of a late show the previous evening, they were utterly enamoured, and had to see the full hour.
As it transpires, they weren't going to be disappointed; Lucont works his way through the material effortlessly. Quick witted and exceedingly sharp, his one-liners shouldn't be taken for granted, and audience interaction comes naturally to him. He even manages to pass off a fat American joke, without it seeming contrived.
Towards the final 15/20 minutes, the show seems to drag a little, and it becomes a bit easier to lose focus on what he's actually saying. Although the laughs are still coming, it feels more like hard work on the audience's part. I'm also unsure as to whether a true Frenchman would be seen on stage with an indeterminable white mark on his suit trousers. But I digress.
The show is very funny, if feeling a little long, but the character definitely has a lot of promise, and certainly deserves a look. Alexis Dubus has found what could be a winning formula, and the enamoured audience members went away laughing out loud, and slightly giddy.