To put it simply, the best thing about 100% C*ntinental was the bar staff in the venue, The Raging Bull, who were attentive and skilled as they waited outside the bar to greet forthcoming audience members. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.
The show claimed to be a geopolitical comedy covering questions such as: Is Europe real? What is the difference between an expat and an immigrant? And how can immigration politics be considered using AI? In reality the show was limited to crude one-liner jokes about Germans and gay sex. Whilst at first, these attempts at comedy elicited some polite laughs from the audience, by the time the third act took the stage and continued to repeat the same stilted one-liners, an awkward silence began to build.
Regrettably, the strained second-hand embarrassment escalated as an audience member in the back began to drink from a crinkly bottle of water, which the comedian mistook for a slow clap, digging herself deeper into awkwardness. This same audience member was from Korea, which he proudly stated three times before being acknowledged by the comedian, who had asked if anyone was from outside Europe. The self-proclaimed international comedians had nothing to say about Korea other than “squid games”. They did not even make a joke about the hit Netflix TV show, they simply named the show and moved on, back to their limited one-liners about Germany and gay sex. For an alleged “international” comedy show, all the comedians, bar one who was British, were people who had moved to Berlin. No diversity was even provided from different regions of Germany. So, it should really be no surprise that their global knowledge should be so limited.
Additionally, the show lacked any sense of cohesion. This was not just a limited rapport between the comedians and the audience, as the comedians themselves had no chemistry with each other. The show felt like five separate performances messily conjoined into one in a sloppy, unorganised manner. Consequently, this contributed further to the devastating awkwardness that dominated the environment, as each comedian was ostensibly performing a solo piece as a part of a group show in order to flog their other own individual show at the Fringe this year.
Overall, 100% C*ntinental was 100 per cent not what it claimed to be and created a 100 per cent awkward environment.
100% C*ntinental is running until 24 August at Cellar at Laughing Horse @ The Raging Bull.
Buy tickets here.
Image by Madeline Mulligan