Show reviewed: 13/03/26

Show rated: A hopeless 4.5 stars.

Sometimes I just don’t quite know what I saw in a review and this is one of those bizarre times with The CAN Principle: is it a cult, a MLM scheme or a lesson in ethics from the dodgiest businessman since Zack Southern?! It is a one man show telling the preposterous tale of Mervin Gimplik, a South African entrepreneur and reinvention expert, on the run and ready to sell you his cure all in a can. It’s very reminiscent of snake oil salesmen in the wellness & complimentary/alternative medicine industry and provides a masterclass in how these fraudsters operate on unsuspecting and desperate people.

Mervin, our self proclaimed guru (played by the hilarious Jonny Pasvolsky), takes the audience through our CAN-Version as we move from being giant empty holes of failure to somehow filled with sunlight and hope (from a can of course.) He details his ridiculous career as a professional scammer (I mean (re)inventor) and takes us through a morality tale about rising from failure, making the most of any opportunity even if the situation is less than ideal and using legal loopholes to gain Australian citizenship…I’m not sure I should be endorsing the marrying for citizenship scam, but if Taylor and Travis can have a PR relationship on instagram, why not Merv and his Chinese Australian chameleon, Brenda?!

Jonny Pasvolsky is a clever parody writer and a comedian with excellent timing and superb pacing; he is also a brilliant character actor as he brings Mervin’s absurd story to life. He has the right amount of audacity and authority for scammer who knows his merchandise is rubbish but decides to shift the product anyway. This is something I’ve seen first hand as a person with chronic illness, people are ready to try anything that might work, which clearly The CAN Principle is taking the piss out of (honestly he “invented” the chamois shorts and it’s exactly as it sounds!) This is a parody production for those who have in moments of weakness purchased something from an advertisement on social media at 3AM. It’s not just me…glass skin from Korean collagen wrap masks anyone?!

This show is highly participatory (like a Tony Robbins lecture) and relies on the energy dynamic between actor and audience to create the ludicrous reality that the show is satirising, however Pasvolsky’s crowd work makes this an easy experience for the spectators. He is engaging, an oily sort of charming and it’s hard to not be impressed by the level of farce that has been packed into an hour and a stack of empty cans. This is a great way to spend your Saturday night at the Adelaide Fringe in its last week.