PORTRAIT OF A NARCISSIST Saturday 06.03.2021 7:30pm - Moonshots 54 Hyde Street, Adelaide.

I approached this with some anticipation. After all, I was about to delve into the mind of someone narcissistic enough to build a show around this personality disorder. And hadn’t we just divested ourselves of the most famous one…you know who!

I was greeted at the door by the very friendly Nikki Carter, who turns out is related to the warm up act, Rick Carter. As the MC, she nervously  proceeded to let the audience of approximately 60 understand that Nick “Nickyboy” Stevens was a “Renaissance Man”, a “literal genius”, and there were some comparisons to Michelangelo and Davinci, amongst others. I was intrigued.

Rick Carter, in his own words, described himself as “new to comedy” and “old in age”. His septuagenarian shtick revolved around one-liners, views on millennials and his prostate cancer, which he handled with humour and self-effacement. There was some chuckling, and the audience generally rode the jokes with him, even if they didn’t always agree with his assessments. He has charm and can tell a funny story, but I found the constant reference to his electronic device on a stand a little irritating.

Nikki then came out to introduce the main act, Nickyboy, who emerged after some manufactured applause to the James Blunt song “You’re Beautiful” and on cue the audience all seemed to know it and sang along.. Labelled narcissistic by his high school teacher, he was described as the “world’s greatest talent”, good at everything, and my personal favourite…”at school, boys wanted to bang him and girl’s wanted to be him”. There were references to where he was born…”wonderful place to come from, terrible place to go to”, moving to St Kilda, through to marriage and kids. Nickyboy also involved the crowd in the fun game “how to spot a douche”, which received quite a reaction from the largely female audience. His insights into men and women were popular as was his message at the end. His one hour set concluded with his very cute and talented young daughter coming on stage to tell a few jokes, which were hilarious. Look for her act at a Fringe show in about 15 years.

Nick “Nickyboy” Stevens controlled the audience very well, weaving stories about his past with edgy humour and a mostly casual air. He was funny, reflective, topical and sensitive. The title was clearly a starting point and somewhat ironic.
He left the stage with some advice….mine is to go see the show.

3.5 Stars

Reviewer: Peter Zubreckyj for Adelaide Review Team (ART)

https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/portrait-of-a-narcissist-af2021

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