Oliver Coleman – The Ballad of Oliver Coleman

I never know quite what to feel about Oliver Coleman. On one hand, I’m pretty sure he’s a genius. On the other hand, I’m not sure if I could ever, in good conscience, recommend his work to broad audiences.  

“The Ballad of Oliver Coleman” is anti-comedy of the type that Coleman does best. It’s not funny. And yet, it’s hilarious. Coleman has impeccably tight control over his delivery, rocketing from zero to one hundred and right back down with astonishing gusto. Coleman spends much of this show firmly out of sync with the audience, and that feels deliberate. This is not a comedian who wins you over with charms or charisma: rather, Coleman seeks to alienate with a deliberately weird, off-putting stand-up persona. Sometimes, his jokes aren’t jokes as much as they are tirades. And you wonder where it’s all going until suddenly, he brings it all back around, ties it in a bow, and you find yourself chuffed, if not a bit confused. 

If I didn’t believe that Coleman knew exactly what he was doing, I would probably dislike this show quite a lot. But as it stands, it’s brilliant. Or maybe I’ve simply fallen into the art critic trap of thinking something is wonderful just because it’s confusing and off-putting, in which case: Oliver Coleman wins this round.