Josh Davies LOOK! I'M BLIND
Fringe Bar, 26-32 Allen St, Te Aro, Wellington
11/05/2021 - 15/05/2021
NZ International Comedy Festival 2021
Production Details
2021 Billy T Award nominee and 2019 NZ Fringe Most Promising Emerging Artist, Josh Davies, brings an insightful hour of comedy about vision loss and accessibility.
Josh grew up nearly totally blind. He is turning his experience of growing up with low vision into a laughter-packed hour of how he sees the world.
Embrace and celebrate the funny side of disability.
Billy T Award Nominee 2021, NZICF
To keep this event accessible to all, Josh Davies is offering $15 tickets for low income earners. There are no barriers or boxes you have to tick to get these tickets – just choose “Low Income Earner” at the checkout. If you can afford the full price, please leave the Low Income Earner tickets for those they’ll help the most.
The Fringe Bar
11 – 15 May 2021
7:00pm
Full Price: $25
Concession: $20
Group 6+: $20
Low Income Earner: $15
BUY TICKETS
*service fee may apply
Wheelchair accessible
Occasional bad language
Adult themes
R18 venue, unless with their parent or legal guardian. Strictly enforced.
Theatre , Stand-up comedy ,
1 hr
A relentlessly comedic slant
Review by Margaret Austin 12th May 2021
It’s not OK to make fun of a disability – unless you’ve got one. Taking the stage at the Fringe Bar, 2021 Billy T nominee Josh Davies is clearly comfortable with his state of near blindness: total in one eye and just 20% vision in the other.
His opening quip about why we need to laugh sets the tone for the rest of the performance. He’s not going to have a problem. It’s impossible to feel sorry for the guy, so we as audience are released to laugh at his experiences as a blind citizen of this world.
His mum took out her passive aggressiveness by producing him. His father’s view is they got a bargain because he was broken. Much of his patter consists of examples of the way others treat him and his lack of sight – often woefully tactless and naïve. How many fingers am I holding up? acquires new meaning if it’s a question posed to a blind person.
From matters of seeing and not seeing we get rueful ruminations on teeth (extractions), the questionable values of blind charities (working conditions for guide dogs) and camps for blind kids (I’m not saying who they’re a paradise for). As for Braille …
Davies’ success resides in his ability to take a relentlessly comedic slant on his misfortune and his narrative is justifiably enjoyed by a packed house.
His conclusions are philosophical. Oh, and parliament’s working on legislation for the blind – he hopes to get a look in (his actual punchline is better).
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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