“There’s a guy in the place who’s got a bittersweet face
And he goes by the name of Ebeneezer Goode
His friends call him ‘Ezeer and he is the main geezer
And he’ll vibe up the place like no other man could
He’s refined, sublime, he makes you feel fine
Though very much maligned and… Okay, that’s quite enough of that.

You see, that is how I wanted to begin this review. I wanted to talk about where it all started for me, how my curious love of Jerry Sadowitz  began with a British dance/rap from 1992 and the appearance of an “Extraordinary Fellow” in the music video. How that man was the clown better known as Jerry Sadowitz and how he is a twisted clown genius… But sadly, having watched tonight’s show I can’t bring myself to do it. 

Please believe me when I say that I 100% get the joke, I have been watching this clown across various formats for years and fully understand what he is trying to do. Close friends of mine have met the man off stage and can atest to his true character – that of a shy but affable man who loves to perform card tricks – so please don’t tell me that I just don’t “get it”. I am normally the one saying that to other people.

This is usually shock comedy at it’s best, it gives us misogyny, sexism, homophobia and racism with a key twist that always turns the joke back on either the performer or the people who stupidly abuse others for doing nothing more than existing.

But what happens when the show isn’t well written? What happens when that twist isn’t obvious?

Well then you are just sat in room having paid good money to listen to misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia.

The joke on two levels is something that this clown mastered years ago but with the topics he discusses it is infinitely more important to have that second level. At some point during tonight’s show – perhaps as the walkouts reached double figures – he realised that he had missed his mark and broke flow to explain that he was performing irony, that this mad bastard character of his was actually an ironic construct.

Because no one – and I do mean no one – wants to be left in a room with a group of people laughing at the wrong part of Jerry Sadowitz’s material.

I know he doesn’t give a shit about reviews so this is almost a pointless piece of writing but I am a fan and a believer in the need for clowns like Jerry Sadowitz. But on this night ‘Ebenezer’ was really not ‘Good’.

Clown Stars: * *

 @The Stand – Edinburgh