Just To Be Close To You comedy review: Good-natured fun
Cam Poter’s needy lounge lizard turns crowd-work into a dopamine-fuelled masterclass
Renowned lounge singer Carl Poteraychke is ready for his encore, and boy is he thirsty for our applause. This gorgeously daft piece of clowning is a masterclass in audience manipulation (of the good kind) as Poteraychke spends a full hour building up to his final bow. It is astonishing how quickly he gets us on side; there’s no awkward ten-minute warm-up while the crowd work out what’s expected of them. Rather, we’re immediately in the moment alongside our star and each other. It makes for quite the dopamine hit.
Of course, a relaxed and happy audience is one that's more than ready to up the ante, and there’s a real joy in watching our favourite singer ‘yes, and’ everything that is thrown at him. This level of crowd-work takes skill and confidence: we need to feel safe before we feel silly and it’s clear that clown Cam Poter is very much in the driving seat of this particular crooner’s car of chaos, ably supported by Song Boy who has to be very much on his toes to keep up with the sound cues. It’s brilliant, good-natured and ridiculous: guaranteed to give you the giggles.
Just To Be Close To You concluded at the Yurt at the Courtyard Of Curiosities at the Migration Museum on March 1; picture: Jennifer Forward-Hayter.