British Comedian turns Aussie dangers into a good laugh
Dan Willis is an Australia-based English comedian, seasoned with over 20 years experience, and having performed across 30 countries. The guy has featured many Best of British productions and now brings his new show to Fringe World, the aptly titled British Comedian.
Referencing all deadly and dangerous creatures Brits and travellers fear about Australia – namely spiders, snakes, blue bottles, and sharks of course – the comedian provides a stark contrast between Aussies who don’t fear these deadly creatures (ie: we just get on with our lives) and Brits who do fear them but always seem to survive the bite.
Dan, scared out of his wits, presumes all spiders will kill him. This belief, and his subsequent paranoiac jokes, make the audience chortle, but that’s also because there’s a ring of truth to them.
It’s not often that a comic requests for an audience member to heckle him… and for a beer in reward. This joke was setting up to be possibly the highlight of the show. Although when a reluctant 21-year-old, who doesn’t know the first rule about heckling, goes mute… well, the joke falls flat. It’s a shame because the idea of reverse psychology could have been brutally funny.
Dan Willis is funny, likeable, and delivers easy, mild humour, weaving a formula of Aussie-themed anecdotal stories that provide plenty of laughs. It must be said, though, his repeated attempts to banter with the audience relies too much on rehearsed material and was not that successful. His show would benefit from more ad lib use of personal quips and not so much pre-rehearsed material, which would bring this funny man’s expertise to to funnier heights.
Annette McCubbin
‘Dan Willis: British Comedian’, performs as part of Fringe World 2021, at Roof Dec, The Court, until January 31, and then on February 1,2, 4, 5, 7-9, 11- 12. Tickets are available throughwww.fringeworld.com.au.
CREAM MAGAZINE 
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