| “Delicious Cocktail of Dramatisation and Storytelling”: Izzy Rabey Directs |
Jamie Finn: Nobody's Talking About Jamie (Taylor's Version) |
| Mick Perrin Worldwide in association with PBJ Management , Underbelly Ironbelly, Cowgate , August 30, 2024 |
Izzy Rabey directed a trio of productions for the 2024 Fringe. The description of “Nobody's Talking About Jamie (Taylor's Version)” read: “After a sell-out run, Nobody's Talking About Jamie returns with "Taylor's Version"... 'Who are you Jamie!?' 'I'm that bitch!' Jamie is not, in fact, that bitch. Jamie has been dumped. Jamie is a hot mess and needs to reinvent himself. Celebrating the dizzying romance and heart-breaking tragedy of friendship, Jamie Finn explores the chaotic wilderness of platonic love and searches for someone who will finally talk about Jamie! 'Jamie Finn will make you feel better... fresh and funny' (Michael Palin). BBC Comedy Awards Regional Finalist 2021. Best Fringe Debut, Theatre Weekly 2023.” * * * * From Bookmarks and Stages: “Nobody’s talking about Jamie… but they soon will. Jamie Finn is making his mark on the world and reinventing himself. It opens with a big song number that makes you sit up and want to know more about Jamie. “Cordelia has broken up with him for someone at the gym and life gets rather messy, until he discovers Spin Classes at the gym. There’s another woman, Lily, the spin instructor who changes his life in a platonic friendship way. “Life has its ups and downs for Jamie and you can but hope he settles, but it’s hard when your friend has broken up with you too. It’s an interesting exploration of love, friendship and what can go on when its the good and the bad times. “...Nobody’s Talking About Jamie… After seeing the show, you sure will. It made me want to Talk About Jamie Finn. It’s very funny but also moving at times as he tries to find out how to move ever forwards in life. He’s easy to empathise with, especially with certain unexpected twists in this tale of re-invention and discovering a new path of life. What’s true and what’s not, the audience is told to make up their own minds. * * * * From Edfringe Review: “Jamie Finn’s Nobody’s Talking About Jamie (Taylor’s Version) is a look into the life and loves of 20-something Jamie Finn, recovering from heartbreak and finding himself playing second fiddle to his sexy new American flatmate. Replete with song, dance (ish) and intense spinning (you know, the self-inflicted new-age bicycle torture), Finn’s performance is less comedy set and more one-man variety show. “Having received rave reviews during previous Fringe stints, the show was sold out and expectations were high. ‘Imagine: it’s New Year’s Eve!’ Finn entreats us. The audience has no choice but to oblige. Quickly, the show takes a sad turn: in a New Year’s Eve lament, Finn has been dumped by his long-term girlfriend, and is seeing in the New Year at home with his parents and Jools Holland. “Finn’s show, a tale of awkward interloping and faux pas as it might be, oozes professionalism. Every transition from narration to song to spinning and back again is incredibly slick. The jokes are pretty funny, but more importantly we are completely taken in by the story, just as the bumbling Finn is seduced by the rockstar lifestyle of his tattooed, Amazonian roommate. “This odd pair, effortlessly cool Lily and Finn, whose various doppelgangers include the child from ‘Home Alone’, Gwendoline Christie and Princess Diana, make for some sweet moments while hinting at the obvious power imbalance that will inevitably overturn their friendship. Finn’s delivery steers between flamboyance and Hugh Grant circa Notting Hill bashfulness, a style that, in fairness, could teeter on the edge of becoming grating. “...Finn's tale, while collated from real-life events, is obviously not entirely authentic. But it doesn’t matter - we are absorbed by his story and its embellishments, and there’s even room for some heartfelt meditations on friendships and relationships running their course.” * * * * From the Quintessential Review: “Jamie Finn”s ‘Nobody’s Talking About Jamie (Taylor’s Version)’ is a deceptively clever one-man play. Blurring the lines between reality and fiction, Jamie plays himself, but tells a story inspired by, but not true to, his lived experiences. Understanding this is a play is critical – if you’re looking for a gag-fest, look elsewhere. It’s extremely funny, but the play’s the thing here… “This ‘true but not true’ basis for the show lends him complete authenticity. He doesn’t have to reimagine himself, or his feelings, he only has to wrap them up in a story adjacent to his real history. “The play opens with a break-up. Cordelia was his university dream girl, one whom he had built an entire life around, kids, house and pets – the only problem being none of that had happened yet. Abruptly dumped, Jamie takes to his guitar, inspired by the phrase, “You were the right guy at the wrong time”. “It’s immediately clear that Finn is an extremely competent musician-composer, with a knack for comedic lyrics. His songs are catchy, though prone to abrupt changes of direction to good effect. However, ‘Nobody’s Talking About Jamie’ is hoodwinking you. Much as Cordelia left a mark upon his life, her impact pales in comparison to Lily, the excessively glamorous and artistic Amazon who recruits him for a flatmate. “From there, Jamie takes the audience with him into the ‘Factory’ where they live, and a life of early morning Spin classes, afternoon photo shoots, and nighttime adventures amongst the avant-garde London elite. “Finn deftly mixes a delicious cocktail of dramatisation and storytelling, often from the saddle of the spin cycle dominating the stage. It’s a totem of the ‘thing’ that binds him and Lily as the most intimate of friends. It’s ‘their thing’. Such is Jamie’s fresh-faced happiness in those classes, that it becomes the audience’s ‘thing’ too.” “...Before that, and through it, Jamie takes to his guitar several times, whether it’s an embittered serenade to Cordelia’s new boyfriend, or celebrating the ‘new’ Jamie who emerges under Lily’s tutelage. Each is a highlight, fun and funny without being the least hackneyed. “The drama/story is also just as funny as it is fascinating, the touches of tragedy only making it more human and relatable. Self-deprecation underpins the comedy, whether it’s opining over his resemblance to child actors and dead celebrities, or misadventures born of his wide-eyed naivety and hunger for human connection. “Look out for a particularly memorable first encounter with hard drugs. It’s a disaster of laugh-out-loud proportions.” * * * * From Starburst Magazine: “Jamie presents his tale through energetic storytelling and the odd song, as well as the strategic use of an exercise bike as a prop. Jamie’s adventure is an over-the-top retelling of his own experiences, though, at points, the storytelling pauses to convince the audience as to how true (or untrue) the next scene may be. This adds to the effect; this is a tale of heartache, terrible life choices and an inability to understand oneself, and we lean in to know more. “The character in this story is a bit of a blank canvas who, having no strong opinions of their own, gets pulled into ridiculous moments by simply saying yes to everything. It’s hard not to feel for Jamie whilst laughing at all the problems he’s caused for himself and others. “There are moments in both the narrative and the performance that are strongly reminiscent of Tony Hancock. Finn’s hapless idiot who finds themselves part of a bohemian culture beyond their experience, with sarcasm and self-deprecation as their only defence. Though at times the story of a young man, unlucky in love, turning into a Bohemian fool thanks to the lack of love from a (not very) good woman is one we’ve seen before, Jamie Finn delivers it with a lot of passion and fun that it’s hard not to grin all the way through. Fun and rather clever.” * * * * Extracts with thanks and acknowledgement from source: https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2024/jamie-finn/ https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/jamie-finn-nobody-s-talking-about-jamie-taylor-s-version |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
This review has been read 160 times |
