EDIBURGH 2012: BWW Reviews: MAN 1, BANK 0, Gilded Balloon, August 19
Cyndi Lauper’s 'Money changes everything' blares out as you enter the Gilded Balloon’s Wine Bar for the fantastical and highly amusing telling of how Patrick Combs achieved the score-line of Man 1, Bank 0. On the screen above the sparsely populated stage are displayed the words 'truth is stranger than fiction', you absolutely couldn’t make this story up!
What follows is an hour and a quarter (important to take into account that extra 15 minutes so you don’t make the mistake of arranging to meet someone an hour after the show starts!) of laughter, disbelief and excitement. Combs has constructed a show that takes you through his (mostly) ups and (rare) downs of facing up to a bank and its mistake. Combs’ sense of humour is what got him in the wholly grettable situation in the first place and it carries through to the performance. His enthusiasm and excitement is infectious and you find yourself willing the story to turn out well.
Part verbatim play, part stand-up comic it is an accomplished piece. Combs adopts the persona’s of his various allies and rivals expertly. His story is full of highs and lows; the highs are emphasised with predictable but fun blasts of pop music that add to the terrific energy of the show.
It is a very American style of show, which I would have found annoying were it not for the joy of the story and the likeable ‘fish out of water’ performance of Combs. In a time when banks are hardly flavour of the month as they play ‘bottom trumps’ to see who can pull off the most sordid dealings it is great to see a show where a bank is humbled by a single person.
Man 1, Bank 0 is on at 17.15 everyday at the Gilded Balloon
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