By his own admission James McNicholas is not much of a boxer. Coming off as a less camp Alan Carr you would, at first glance, outright reject that he was the grandson of Terry Downes, the “Paddington Express”, who was the world middleweight champion in 1961. But he is, and The Boxer is a comedic semi-biographical look at Downes’ life in comparison to McNicholas’ own.
It would be an understatement to say I was surprised - and more than a little concerned - when he took the stage, adorned in a tracksuit, brimming with confidence and adopting a gruff London accent. I momentarily thought I had forgotten what McNicholas was like, and more importantly, wildly misjudged what this show was about.
But, after setting the scene with both charm and humour, McNicholas transitioned to his decidedly less middleweight champion self, and assured us that this wasn’t a play. Throughout the show we switched from Terry and James, following their individual journeys through life, exploring how different they are, or at least seem to be.
However, this was not without fault. It did on occasion feel slightly jolting when the changes happened, and as phenomenal as McNicholas’ transformation was to the swaggering boxer, the decision to have Terry make repeated bad jokes and spoonerisms eventually started to grate. I appreciate that he might not have been the brightest, but he appeared exceptionally fascinating, and honestly I’d rather have heard more of his story than his humour.
Yet, it was while McNicholas was performing as himself that the two worst parts of this performance occurred. Trying to find humour in two fairly gruesome situations, McNicholas had two scenes that killed the pace, and contributed so little to the overall show they probably should have been cut. Although fairly brief, they were so unamusing it took a while for him to win me back around.
Luckily though, he did, and on the whole the performance was brilliant. I can’t offer enough praise for his embodiment of his grandfather, it was a total transformation of body and attitude. Beyond warping reality to actually switch body frames there was little more McNicholas could do to completely immerse me.
The comedy was to be expected, but the heart and emotion wasn’t, and it caught me like a right-hook to the chest. It really came out of nowhere, proving McNicholas’ control over the audience, and demonstrating that, when it counts, he knows when to let the story do the talking.
I was more than a little bit excited to see what James McNicholas was going to produce in his debut show, having absolutely adored his efforts in BEASTS, and being thoroughly impressed with the solo shows of his peers. I’m pleased to report that McNicholas stands shoulder to shoulder with Dowd and Roberts for acting and comedic talent. Following the same format as every boxing movie, McNicholas will take you through the rise, fall, and resolution of not just his grandfather’s life, but his own, and in doing so demonstrate an important lesson that comparisons are pointless.
0 Comments