An evening of comedy was a welcome addition to the Performances for the Curious at the Millennium Centre. It had a more laid back atmosphere, even with the much later start time, which I would not welcome as a recurring plan for evening spent at Ffresh.
What made the evening go on longer was the inclusion of a warm up act, a staple in comedy circuits. Spanish comedian Ignacio Lopez made an excelling start to the night with breezy humour, that I found more my style than the main act. He had a barbed, Spanish sting about the Welsh which made for hilarious material. We usually welcome being teased in such a way by everyone expect dare I say, the English. Observations he made about us included “what are pre-drinks?” and “why does everyone get called Di when talking about professions?” with witty and pithy results. Even nonsense like Brexit gets riffed now and then and we would certainly agree with Lopez that he is Spain’s best import. No question.
We waited patiently for 3 Dads and after a short break, Leroy Brito got the stage. After outings on BBC Sesh and Tourist Trap, he has become a familiar, local face and after a previous outing: Butetown’s Finest, he now gets to have real talk with us about being a dad at three different stages in his life. With the version for radio also in the air, Brito has a sense for the curt, the blatantly honest and the downright absurd. It was the first night of the piece and some fine tuning might be considered here and there, though the components do work well. I expected a sort of three tableaux of monologues concerning fatherhood and we got a more laid-back look through the medium of stand up.
Racial aspects of his words linger large. Being from the melting pot of Butetown has made Brito, claiming everyone lived side by side in peace and harmony. The most interesting aspects of the show is just how much he has hardened and learned from being a dad, as each new child begin to enhance his views on the world. Cheeky remarks about his competitive nature at Sport Days and the move to Penarth, becoming assimilated into a middle class strong hold are highlights. Whilst it might not always be my sort of humour, there are some funny moments of parent child dynamics, class differences and even more remarks about us, the weird Welsh.
3 Dads is a stand up show, which masquerades as a monologue, though some honing in on the script and style would help make it more the latter. I know the intent is a piece of comedy, so it should stay in these shoes. Maybe the show could do with a slight trim around the edges and maybe even some video work/photography of the children in question and even one of Brito at these ages of 18, 24 and 34 would add another personal dimension to the show. It come across a big success, with a supportive audience, though it could become something even more special with these additions.