Toronto – Martin Dockery has gotten some pretty high praise in the past for his shows at various Fringe festivals in the past, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s an energetic and engaging performer, a rapid-fire storyteller who can easily hold an audience for the entirety of an hour-long solo show.
That said, I’m just not wild about his material here. Dockery is in heaven, and describes to the audience all the great things he’s been doing since he got to heaven. He hosts cocktail parties every night. He has a girlfriend. He goes to his friend’s horn recitals. And everybody’s just so nice all the time.
Of course, the same people at the same parties every night gets tedious. He actually finds his girlfriend incredibly irritating, but he keeps going out with her and even gets married to her out of politeness. He doesn’t even like the horn. And everyone’s just a little too nice for comfort.
There’s certainly laughs, and a pretty compelling bit when Dockery describes what torture in hell is like. But some of the gags go on far too long without really being that funny, and the monologue really rambles at times. Dockery is fun to watch, but as good as he is, his script here isn’t that strong.
Bursting Into Flames plays at Venue 9. Check your Fringe program or the online play listings for showtimes.