Comedians are like sweeties, they come in all sorts of flavours.
You have your sweet innocuous Milky Bars – like Russell Howard – through to those strong, salty liquorice lozenges that many people will spit out in disgust. That’ll be Jerry Sadowitz then.
But unlike Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, with Sadowitz you know exactly what you are going to get. It says it right there on the lid – his current gig is called Not For Anyone and he has never disguised his take-no-prisoners style of comedy in a career spanning 40 years.
Not that that stopped the Scottish stand-up from creating a stooshie when this very show was cancelled at the Edinburgh Fringe in August amid accusations of racism and misogyny – prompting a robust defence from many quarters of Sadowitz’s right to be controversial in this cancel culture world.
Jerry Sadowitz is the Sistine Chapel of swearing
No doubt, there might have been some people who went along to see Sadowitz in his Aberdeen International Comedy Festival gig at the Tivoli Theatre last night wondering what they were in for.
The answer was as billed – a very funny stream-of-consciousness tirade of foul-language, extreme gags, and taboo subjects, from Jimmy Saville to the death of the Queen on the milder end of his spectrum. Oh, and some great close-up magic, just to pep things up.
There isn’t a line that Sadowitz isn’t prepared to cross. In fact, he goes so far that for him that line is a dot, with rapid-fire rants delivered with a stream of invective and non-stop effing and blinding that is an art in itself. Jerry Sadowitz is the Sistine Chapel of swearing.
That Sadowitz leaves himself open to accusations of misogyny and racism is beyond question – he uses words and ideas that can make you flinch. But in the end, they don’t. Because it becomes clear there is not a drop of malice nor indeed belief in what’s he saying. He’s going for the laugh. And he gets it.
So extreme it’s as if Jerry Sadowitz is doing it for a dare
And in case you’re in any doubt, Sadowitz explained it himself as “all irony, tiers of irony… I don’t believe anything I’m saying. Unless that’s a tier of irony and beneath that, I do believe it. It’s up to you to work it out.”
At times things got so extreme – uncomfortably so in moments – you almost think Sadowitz is doing all this for a dare, to push the envelope to breaking point, then push it again just to see what happens.
In fact, a couple of times I thought folk had walked out. Turned out they had just gone to the loo – no interval – and were soon rushing back to their seats to make sure they hadn’t missed anything.
And just as things were getting hot and heavy – around the “Covid is a hoax” sequence – Sadowitz offers another pointer to what his act is all about.
“What I’m doing is trying to think what you think, then saying the exact opposite.”
Which gave everyone in the Tivoli licence to carry on with what they were doing. Laughing.
Jerry Sadowitz firmly punches upwards at the establishment
Because at the heart of it all, Sadowitz is funny, with an unashamed sick sense of humour that might be out of fashion, yes, but is still thankfully just as valid as all those other flavours of comedy.
And there’s a glittering intelligence behind it, one that firmly punches upwards at the establishment, the politicians, the self-righteous and those who want to tell us what we can and cannot say or think.
Personally, I can’t get enough strong, salty liquorice.
Jerry Sadowitz’s show Not For Anyone is on again on Friday October 14 at the Tivoli. The Aberdeen International Comedy Festival continues until Sunday. For information and tickets click here.
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