Fringe review: Ross Noble – Cranium of Curiosities
Fringe veteran Ross Noble’s latest show reveals his sharp mind, surreal humour, rapid-fire improv. ★★★★★
Ross Noble appears on stage, moving awkwardly and speaking all mumbly-like. By his own admission, if you saw him in a train station, you might hope like hell that he doesn’t approach you. Noble says he is well aware that he presents like someone who might live “in a skip”, but once he begins this night of astute ad-libbing and hilarious surreal imagery, it becomes clear that the veteran comedian might just be the person you most want to talk to in a train station.
The venue is a circus tent, and the stage set consists of inflatable Ross Noble heads with sinister red eyes. Of course it does. Besides the backdrop, every show is different; Noble kick-starts this evening by addressing a man who arrived late, looking for a seat. It’s standard stand-up comic fare, but the difference is that this amusing first segment went beyond one or two lines — it lasted for around eight minutes. Yet rather than becoming tedious, Noble’s crowd work was brilliant.
A woman in the front row probably regretted wearing a Red Sox baseball cap, as this object became another part of the show. (As the artist Magritte proved, hats and the surreal are boon companions.) The more reluctant the woman was to engage with Noble’s questions, the more fuel he had to tease her. But Noble’s audience interactions were perceptive without being cruel (say I, from a safe distance).
One of the many impressive things about Noble is that he never pauses to ponder what to say next. With animated body language, goofy facial expressions and verbal cascades, he communicates a Robin Williams-like energy from start to finish. And for those wondering, he points out that he’s not on cocaine, and doesn’t even drink.
It seems like Noble’s entire show is a clever set of perceptive responses to whatever’s being said or going on in the room. This is largely true, but he also weaves into the show pre-prepared material, which is no less funny for it. For example, an inspired verbal exchange with an audience member about people dressed as sexy zebras in a nearby Fringe circus show led to a bit about wombats and Brazilian butt lifts.
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Noble also performed surreal riffs about Jesus and the crucifixion, dating norms, and an imagined dating app based on Road Runner cartoons. The only downside to the show was the thumping sound of the circus show nearby. Noble even alluded to this, and his frustration was understandable.
With such an unstructured show, audiences seem to require some linear narrative structure for balance. So, Noble started an anecdote about going to Mt Lofty before digressing several times. Although ironically, this material was the least engaging, Noble effectively created suspense: we wanted to hear what happened in Mt Lofty.
There’s often a satirical edge to his material, which, along with cultural references and callbacks to earlier crowd-work, reveal further glimpses into Noble’s keen mind and memory. He’s in control of the chaos, and, in the Shakespearean tradition of the fool, his character appears foolish, but says wise things.
Ross Noble – Cranium of Curiosities continues at The Roundhouse at the Garden of Unearthly Delights until March 23
Read more 2025 Adelaide Fringe coverage here on InReview