Cluub Zarathustra

Edinburgh '95 Pleasance 

The Stage  17/08/1995 

RUSSELL NASH 

Comedy as art? It may seem like a strange idea but the guys at Avalon have been working on this concept for a while now and the end product is one of the most bizarre comedy shows in town.

The brainchild of Simon Munnery, Cluub Zarathustra takes its inspiration from a vast number of sources. The Fluxus Movement, Dadaist art, Expressionism, Goethe, Film Noir and puerile playground humour are the starting points for this mixture of sketches, poetry, slide shows and surrealist gags.

Munnery acts as host in an array of illuminated and floral jackets, challenging the definition of humour and usually succeeding.

Roger Mann regales us with spooky ghost stories and a demonstration on how to snog various members of the animal kingdom illustrated with photos.

Underused Stewart Lee is superb as M. Qui N'arrivez Pas and Kevin Eldon, is as ever, the best thing on stage.

The concept occasionally collapses under its own weight and there are some sections of the audience who never get the gag.

Is comedy as art worth the effort? Most of the time.

(Seen in preview)

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