If public sentiment is anything to go by, few people would pass up an opportunity heckle the Federal Treasurer. It’s fair to say, then, that Joshua Ladgrove – creator and star of the one-off experimental show Come Heckle Hockey – may have made a few dreams come true this Melbourne Fringe Festival. Donning his ‘Hockey mask’, Ladgrove bravely invited punters to air their political grievances in a cathartic hour of comedy.
Ladgrove’s early goofs were fairly predictable, the masked satirist lunging straight for low-hanging fruit. For example, the requisite ‘cigar’ gag was accounted for within the opening two minutes of the show. Pleasingly, though, Ladgrove dared to venture beyond the obvious, offering up a complete cross-section of the Federal Treasurer’s vulnerabilities. Ladgrove demonstrated a combination of keen interest and extensive research in Hockey as a target, regurgitating his political rhetoric flawlessly. There were constant references to the ‘debt and deficit disaster’ and ‘the other mob’, Hockey’s spin replicated with precision. In terms of audience repartee, there was rarely an occasion in which Ladgrove came off second best. An admirably sharp performer, quick on his feet, Ladgrove’s rebukes were dynamite. Perhaps his audience weren’t counting on faux-Joe hitting out with his own quips.
Though the show benefited from early momentum, punters happily taking aim at Hockey with incisive political commentary, the well was bone-dry by the end. The show petered out with successive callbacks to Hockey’s family deli, desperately dragging in the final quarter. To that end, it’s possible that the show would prove that little more punchy with a shorter format. Meanwhile, Ladgrove might have been frustrated by constant wardrobe malfunctions, his mask simply refusing to stay fixed upon his face. At one point in the show, he discarded the mask entirely, seemingly done with the Hockey charade. Even a Paul Keating cameo was undermined by mask issues. These malfunctions killed off the show’s momentum from time to time, but Ladgrove proved himself an accomplished enough performer to quickly steer things back on track.
Overall, though it could have easily gone awry, the show ultimately proved an entertaining experiment. That’s no small feat, either: Come Heckle Hockey presented the same risk as its smash-hit predecessor, Come Heckle Christ, Ladgrove placing enormous faith in his audience to help make the show work. Fortunately, on this occasion, his faith was repaid, the show attracting politically-engaged punters willing to participate.
BY NICK MASON
