Chimp comedy review: Marvelous monkeying around
Conor Lynch’s mime show transports us back to our simian ancestry, with amusing results
All Chimp wants is to enjoy life as a regular human. But he needs our help to escape his cage, sort himself out and get his feet on the right path. This hour of clown, mime and gentle audience participation never drops pace for a moment. It’s rare to see an audience so bought-in to an idea, and a joy to see Conor Lynch building on our energy and reactions as he bounces back and forward through the various set-ups. Communicating only through grunts, whoops and gestures, his incredibly expressive face and body pull us in: we want to help him, which makes for some gorgeous and unpredictable results as we all get our inner chimp on. It’s very funny too: child-like, slapstick, silly.
That such a simple premise is so engaging is a testament to Lynch’s skills as a performer and, quite possibly, the 98% of DNA we share with our chimp cousins. This hour explores the other 2%: what it is to be human, all without uttering a word. It’s an impressive debut by any standards, but what makes this show particularly special is the way it works for almost anyone: age, stage and accessibility restrictions are swept aside in a piece of theatre that is genuinely universal and therefore uniquely connecting. Trust the animals to show us how to do it, eh?
Chimp continues at The Yurt at the Courtyard of Curiosities at the Migration Museum until March 1.