Thomas Monckton’s Energetic Edinburgh Double Bill

Thomas Monckton demonstrated what an outstanding physical clown he is via his previous solo show, The Pianist. Only Bones, his newest work on as part of the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is more distilled and maybe even funnier, according to arts and entertainment guide, The List.

Created with fellow New Zealander Gemma Tweedie under the auspices of Finland’s Kallo Collective, Only Bones adds up to about 45 minutes of body-generated invention that will likely send you back out into the night with a spring in your step, writes the List’s Donald Hutera.

The ginger-haired, rubber-faced Monckton makes full use of his muscular, wiry, frame to induce laughs. The opening visual gag sets a tone he pretty much sustains with no trouble at all. Spatially his trajectory could hardly be simpler: he starts out sitting and ends up standing. His hands take on lives of their own, sharing a co-dependent relationship of dominance and submission.

But this man can get comic mileage out of his eyelid or pinkie or, because he’s so alive to the moment, a spectator’s unexpected sneeze or an insect whizzing around in the bright light of the overhead lamp beneath which the performance occurs. There’s also an aquatic ballet, barnyard sound mash-ups, head juggling, tongue-swallowing and much gargoyle facial play and more. Monckton leaves us wanting more but in the best sense.

Monckton is originally from Taranaki.

Only Bones and The Pianist are on at the Fringe until 28 August.

Original article by Donald Hutera, The List, August 12, 2016.

Photo by Gemma Tweedie.