The Year of Magical Wanking

28-18 Feb ,

Theatre

Enter Neil Watkins's world of shame

First published on 17 Jan 2012. Updated on 28 Feb 2012.

This event has finished

“I am a wanker”, professes Neil Watkins as the floor lights up for his 60-minute, one-man show. This prologue is explained in the remaining 59 minutes of his monologue and it may as well be the title of the show too. Watkins is a queer, 33-year-old Catholic who lives a sinful lifestyle of sexual addiction, weed, poppers and rock’n’roll. We get to know the guy in seriously intricate detail through a brutally honest series of autobiographical short scenes. It’s balls out (figuratively) and you begin to feel, simultaneously, like his confidant, punching bag and shrink. You also want to listen to this damaged, young soul; after all – everyone deserves some airtime even if it seems self-indulgent and over-dramatic at times. He speaks in verse (often rhyming and always melodic), shows off his cabaret moves and moves between hysterical comedy and heart-wrenching tragedy.

Watkins’s story is as urgent as the moment before an orgasm: you feel if it were told a second later, his life would explode and then dwindle out in a couple of electrical sparks. It’s about growing up and removing shame. You leave knowing, thank goodness, that humans are born with the extra resources to cast demons, resurrect form dark places and heal.

The show starts to drag towards the end, but take our word for it – the honest human standing before you, alone in the spotlight, deserves your attention. And you need to hang out for the very last line.

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Words by Natasha Gammell