Sunday 14th April 2019 - 8:00 pm - Forum Theatre

I really love the architecture of the Forum Theatre, and it looks like the last time that I've been within the main auditorium that they've done it up a bit, as it's looking proper fancy and gothic.

I've seen the last three of Daniel Sloss' shows; Dark, So? and Now.

At the start of the show there's a voice over that essentially says 'this show goes for 90 minutes, if you can't hold it in for that long and need to go to the loo during, you may have to watch the remainder from the standing room at the back of the theatre'.

From that position you might have noticed a sign, stuck to the doors, which I only noticed as I was exiting the theatre because someone in front of me pointed it out to their friend, it read; 'Warning this show contains coarse language and themes of sexual assault'. And that might have clued me and the audience into what this show would contain.

Sloss at one point describes his shows as "75 minutes of comedy and 15 minutes of a TED talk". And this is kinda true, although the TED talk remains filled with humorous observations.

There is less a concise narrative than previous shows I've seen of Sloss'.

But broadly it can be seen as; children (in a father, godfather, sibling context), masculinity and what that means now; along with masculinity in all its forms (including toxic) and how we relate to it, and at the end, sexual assault.

The last subject is not a subject treated with mockery, it's one that is covered with seriousness, or something that is of realness, quite stark and grim, with humour, as life does.

Like his previous shows there's grim humour present, but it's different, a different sort of dark grim humour from his previous shows.

Sloss drinks throughout the show, both water and a dark spirit, probably whisky. But he is forever and throughout the show a professional storyteller, performer and speaker of opinions.

Each year Sloss develops and changes his comedy and his opinions. He's always thoroughly engaging.