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Barbara Loots
Throughout the years, Nik Rabinowitz has established himself as a great stand-up comic who knows how to deliver rapid-fire punchlines that leave audiences howling with laughter. With his latest show LATE BLOOMER at the Baxter Theatre, Rabinowitz shows how he has honed his comedic skills over the years to bring audiences a blooming brilliant show.
With LATE BLOOMER, Rabinowitz takes on the topic of life crisis, mid or otherwise, in an entertaining and complex manner. In style, LATE BLOOMER moves beyond Rabinowitz's previous shows were the impact was accentuated by his breakneck delivery, while presenting himself as a boundary challenging rebel. While LATE BLOOMER still hits the high level hilarity spot, it now reveals a revitalised, life-experience informed Rabinowitz.
This time around there seems to be an extra level of maturity to his comedy, taking everything that makes a Rabinowitz show a fun night out and adding to that a narrative that feels like it develops naturally through his quintessentially colourful vocabulary.
The impact of the conversational style of comedy Rabinowitz is now blooming into, sees its impact lingering beyond the joke. He merges humour and life in a witty manner that leaves his audience relaxed and lively as he peppers you with unexplained questions and pressing issues. Although his shows are sometimes described as hilarious but insensitive, I didn’t find the comedic angles and issues taken in LATE BLOOMER to be that at all. With LATE BLOOMER his hilarious delivery for me is rather cleverly persistent, as he pushes all the buttons that people tend to avoid. If the sign says ‘don’t push’ he sees that as a challenge. To that I say, well played, sir.
And, let’s be honest, sometimes being pushed to have a laugh (and a thought) about the serious things in life makes it easier for us to cope with the changes we experiences. In one way or another, we’re all late bloomers, Nik Rabinowitz just aids us with the right form of humorous encouragement to embrace every blooming moment of every stage of our lives.
By adopting a conversational comedic style in LATE BLOOMER, his carefully developed contemplations serve as a steady build-up that leads to hilarious observations on human nature. There’s a lot of food-for-thought in the statements Rabinowitz makes regarding depression, identity, and our almost ingrained need at various life stage to fit in rather than stand out.
LATE BLOOMER is perhaps not your typical Rabinowitz show, but in allowing himself, as well as his topics, to bloom in this manner, Rabinowitz’s comedic prowess is here presented as great, reality-driven jesting —Rabinowitz at his best.
Go have a blooming good time with Nik Rabinowitz in LATE BLOOMER at the Baxter Theatre Concert Hall until 14 December 2019.