They say “observation is the mother of imagination” – and Matthew Harvey is a very good observer. Very very good! If you want to test yourself, try writing a poem about someone pushing the pedestrian traffic-light button, after you have already pushed it; and delivering that poem in front of the audience – with passion and fury. 

When I first read about his DangerMan show, I thought that the title was an obvious joke. I was wrong. Mr Harvey arrives on stage in an extremely dangerous manner, riding a kid’s skateboard/push scooter. He is dressed not to kill, but to sweat (and he does that a lot ).

Tripping over a mic cord for the rest of the show, being hit by occasional flying knickers from his ecstatic fans in the audience, Harvey remains a danger – to himself; a type of loud, cheesy, poetic danger that sets the tone for this Stand-Up-Poetry show.

He opens with a string of poems from his ‘TV trilogy series’ offering his witty social comedy-ntary on topics ranging from Justin Bieber to Rodney Hide; from detective series to German sausages (“ugly people cannot solve murders”) and master-chef (Mustur-chef) to $2 dollar shops.

Then he goes deeper in his “philosophical section” with poems such as: ‘My Question For God’ and ‘What a Difference A Dave Makes’. Going even deeper, Mr DangerMan reveals some of the most intimate parts of his childhood (more muster-cheffing, you guess it) and to no-one’s surprise he finishes with couple of love poems: how could any danger even exist if there was no love? 

And if “A poem About Writing a Love Poem With an Actual Love Poem Stuck On The End” was not a good enough ending for you, Harvey is brave enough to pick up the ukulele and send us off into the night with his version of Radiohead’s ‘I am a Creep’, sounding really authentic and autobiographical.

They say, if you want to be liked as a comedian, “first make a good joke about yourself, and then you can do anything with the audience,” Matthew Harvey goes way beyond that advice and continues making jokes about himself throughout the show, and my God, is he liked! For most of the show he has to yell over continuous laughter from the audience.

He manages to remain ‘real’ and down-to-dirt with his polished performance. It’s a fringe poetry show that you will not only enjoy but can send your mum to, the next day … and your kids.

After the opening show Mr Danger stood at the door and sold some appropriate merchandise (fridge magnets depicting him riding on dolphins!?) – including his collection of poetry. A friend of mine, who flies to Hawaii by the end of the week, purchased one of the books to take with her. Brrr scary, watch-out Hawaii! The DangerMan is coming – conquering the world, one funny poem at a time. 

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