Ikechukwu Ufomadu review: Absurd ‘Amusements’ deserves your full dedication
Image: Zach DeZon
by Zoe Paskett
“Amusements'' is the perfect title for Ikechukwu Ufomadu’s show. Watching it is like touring a theme park of all the various abilities and personalities he has at his fingertips.
And boy is that a lot — I don't bother counting, I am focusing too hard on keeping up with him. Which, for someone who speaks so slowly and precisely, is surprisingly hard. It feels like staving off weed-induced dissociation (my friend did describe watching the show as the realisation of “oh right we’re eating that kind of brownie”).
From extended impressions of political figures, to extended songs, to extended readings of unabridged passages from classic novels, there’s no knowing what is coming next and no connection between these sections. But far from being jarring, it feels like a small antidote to the fact that I’m asking myself whether I got accidentally high before I arrived. Why choose one persona when you could do ‘em all?
There are moments where you think he is going to let the mask slip, and he does, but instead of revealing him in any way, there’s another whole mask underneath it! And this one has feathers (metaphorical), and jazzy musical number (real).
After the randomness, my favourite thing about Ikechukwu is his ability to make a simple statement of fact into a joke, but without using any of the usual indications that would signpost that he’s telling a joke. Like tone, or inflection, or the joke. Which is even more funny, and entirely dependent on having total command of timing. It also makes the actual jokes he tells even more well received — getting a traditional joke is a lovely, sweet treat. These rare opportunities aren’t wasted on subpar gags — there’s one about a disease that makes my top 10 jokes of all time, and he tossed it out as though it wasn’t even anything.
I didn’t get to see this show at Edinburgh Fringe, and I’m glad now because you do feel sort of high for the whole of that month anyway so this might not seem as unusual as it should do within that particular context. But within the context of leaving work an hour earlier and getting on the tube an hour later, this is one of the weirdest hours of comedy I’ve ever experienced. That’s how you should treat it: it’s absurdity deserves your full dedication.
Writing about Amusements is so difficult because what he is doing has such a beautiful simplicity that any description of it doesn’t do it justice in any way. I think the biggest indication of how much I enjoyed it is that my friend and I have been texting each other “I’ve just remembered this bit he did!” and exchanging lines like song lyrics of our favourite band.
“I’m sure you have questions,” he says towards the end, before beginning the FAQ section. I actually have not one single question. I don’t want to know anything he hasn’t volunteered. If he hasn’t decided to talk about it, it’s probably not important. I have absolutely no information to divulge about this man and I don’t want any! I’ll just wait for what he tells me in his next show.
Ikechukwu Ufomadu: Amusements is at the Soho Theatre until March 2nd. Tickets here
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