The Birdmann in Momentous Timing: Cheesy Jokes and Party Tricks

I wanted to like this show. I was looking forward to it actually. The eclectic and wacky write-up in the Fringe Guide promised a “romantic comedy circus” and “rock ‘n’ roll”. I was seduced by the mention of The Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury, and the effusive quotes at the bottom. It sounded like great Fringe fare to me, and I even enrolled a friend of mine to come along, selling him on the write-up as well. 

I’m sorry to say that I did not enjoy this production.

The Birdmann in Momentous Timing is a variety show/stand-up comedy grab bag. Australian Trent Baumann (The Birdmann) performs a string of party tricks interspersed with jokes and some audience interaction. 

On the plus side: the tech-heavy show has a great “produced” look and feel to it, with music, lights, and razzle dazzle of that sort.  And it is obviously well rehearsed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of substance.

Here is the thing: when I watch a variety act, I’m not expecting that much of a story let alone depth, but I DO want to see skill. I want to be impressed by the cool stuff you can do and the magic of illusion. And I want to cheer for you of my own volition because I’ve seen something amazing - not because you’re cuing the audience. OR I want to see a lot of heart and soul and a great story. Birdmann had none of those things.

When I look at the turns that made up the show, I see that there were a couple of shining moments. The balancing act at the top deserves a nod: holding an ironing board up with your chin definitely has some wow factor. Same thing with the act of stabbing a cupcake with a knife mid-air. I don’t know a lot of people who can do that.

However, the rest of the circus bits consisted of things like “walking” a plastic dog on wheels from one side of the stage to the other and then looking to the audience for applause. I also didn’t get the point of pulling random objects out of a box and showing them to the audience. No - not transforming them, like where you take a sock and turn it into dove or something…it was just just pulling things out of a box and then putting them back in. Like I said,  I didn’t get it.

The mini acts were strung together by a loose storyline about the Birdmann looking for love. Each time he thinks he has found love, it turns out to be himself. This was interspersed with cheesy jokes which often fell flat. As well, throughout the show The Birdmann refers to himself in the third person, which unfortunately has a distancing and alienating effect. All of this has some conceptual merit but comes across as a quest into the depths of narcissism rather than about finding real connection with self or other.

Trent Baumann commits fully to his material, and if you like cheesy comedy this may be for you. It’s not one of my recommendations for this year.