Scott Capurro

Scott Capurro Goes Deeper
Underbelly Productions
Outstanding, outrageous, and oh so very, very funny. Capurro is completely unrestrained, and is so far beyond offensive, that he almost isn’t. Expect extreme blasphemy, throwaway attacks of strong language, all topics of taboo positively annihilated, material which is delivered with ease, excitement and a strange kind of innocence. Some of his most shocking material includes the Holocaust, the Qur’an, rape fantasies, Aids, Alan Carr and Maddy McCann. No one left, or anyone who did came back willing for more, perhaps because they’re aware of the exhilarating, tormenting, sharp and slick ride Capurro has in store. I don’t need an excuse to give him an extra star, I only see no good reason to take one away.
Underbelly, 9.15pm (10.15pm), dates vary, prices vary, fpp 94.
tw rating 5/5

Published Date: 21 August 2008
Source: The Scotsman
Location: Edinburgh
Related Topics: Edinburgh Festival Fringe , Best of the Festival 2008
Comedy review: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

By Jay Richardson
SCOTT CAPURRO GOES DEEPER
****
UNDERBELLY (VENUE 61)
IS IT ironic that Scott Capurro can’t perform a show about offending audiences without offending his audience? Or merely the perfection of his dubious art? I’m assuming the spiky San Franciscan will be crying “why choose me? I’m a screaming c***” after successive walkouts this run.

But on the evening I saw him, a truly tense stand-off developed with a burly punter who demanded Capurro tell “some jokes”, the implication being without your snide references to Aids and Madeleine McCann in a feather boa, though the irony or otherwise of your racism I’m somewhat ambivalent about.

If this had been Brendon Burns’s 2007 show, we might have been experiencing a mischievous coup de theatre. But this was for real and when he starts jabbing people’s buttons, he simply can’t stop himself, and Capurro aggressively cowed him into departure.

For a performer so vaingloriously poisonous, Capurro is the antidote to all those who attend stand-up knowing nothing about the act or expecting their world view to be reaffirmed. Buying his ticket, you’re agreeing to a tacit pact that the unsayable will be said.

Nevertheless, there’s a degree of truth underpinning many of his more rancorous observations, with a predominantly white Edinburgh audience laughing nervously at the assertion that we’d vote Obama for reasons he outlines as racist. That Capurro’s final line is sweet, in spite of what’s gone before, only reaffirms that, being such a good comic, he might almost be bearable as a person.

• Until 24 August. Today 9:15pm

I’d like to post the review here, but it’s only a PDF on line, so I can’t copy it, blah blah blah…Don’t judge the Scottish. They’re trying.
But the main quotes are:

“Unbelievable, unstoppable and most definitely, unmissable!…An outstanding soliloquy of vitriol that challenges every belief system you hold dear…Scott isn’t just a cutting edge comic. He made the edge. He tackles the gritty world or politics and religion, ruffling the feathers of the PC Brigade…If you only see one show this festival, it must be this one.”
Scotsgay *****

I know. It’s full of quotable quotes. Of course, I’m still getting walk outs, but I’m so enjoying the rage of people who aren’t sure why they’re angry. And anyway, I have their money. I win. The entire festival has been a joy, because I like seeing my friends work - The Pros From Dover made me laugh/cry - and I’m not immersed in who’s winning what. I’m just doing yoga and eating well and humming along. I suppose it’s my age, but my engine has really wound down during this trade fair. I’m in it to win…back my dignity.
xxx

Broadway Baby
*****

Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

Underbelly. 31st July - 24th August (not 12th, 19th). 21:15 (1h)
Printer, but not Loser, Friendly

First and foremost, this show will certainly not suit all tastes. You will either love him or hate him. If you are a racist, biggot or homophobe then then you need to see this show. This is cutting edge stuff and makes other comic’s so-called shocking material pale into insignificance. He will take you to places you never dreamed could be funny with his terrifyingly dark brand of comedy. He has an endearing charm but don’t be fooled by his apathetic manner because he is deadly serious.
Scott has identified his greatest fears and turned them into a joke because that’s the point, everything to him is a joke. AIDS, cancer and paedophilia are a few of many hilarious topics he covers in his fast moving show. At one point, the audience were on a precipice - some I felt almost tempted to leave but then he yanked us all back again to a slightly more comfortable place only to prepare us for the next onslaught.
People have mistaken his material for being sick, and some of it is - deliciously so, but the message behind it is far more profound. Those who prefer their humour more mainstream should stick to the variety palaces. This is Edinburgh - bring it on. This is the art of stand-up at it’s finest, a masterclass in comedy and that’s why he deserves 5 stars. I dare you to go and see it. [Kevin Stevens]

Scott Capurro Goes Deeper Underbelly Productions & MZA

Director:
Scott Capurro

Theatre:
The Underbelly
August 01-11,13-18,20-24 July 31 : 21:15(0 mins) from £6.00

Edinburgh festival
Comedy
Edinburgh festival rapid review: Scott Capurro
Belly Laugh, Underbelly, Edinburgh

Leo Benedictus
guardian.co.uk, Monday August 11 2008 14:16 BST
Article history
Time: 9.15pm

Scott Capurro
Goes Deeper
Belly Laugh, Underbelly, Edinburgh
Until August 11, 13-18, 20-24
Box office:
0844-545 8252
Venue website
Capacity: 150. 80% full at the beginning, 60% by the end.

The theme: All that’s sacred. Let me consult my notes … erm … cancer, the prophet Muhammad, paedophilia, fisting, abortion, the word “nigger”, Madeleine McCann, Aids, Catholicism, anal rape … That enough for you? Even so, it does not begin to convey the depth and range of offence that Capurro sets out to cause. The 45-year-old San Franciscan’s graphic one-liners and camp, high-speed delivery are like the finely calibrated instruments of a consultant sociopath. And he can enrage an unsuspecting punter in less than 30 seconds – like the army medic, returned from Iraq, who had to listen to an explanation of why all the men he had treated should have been left to die. It was like watching someone trying to commit suicide by lynching. Little wonder all the front row seats were empty. “You cowards!” Capurro shrieked when he first came in.

High point: Danger. Only in a Capurro gig do you realise how childish and tame all the other supposedly transgressive standups on the circuit really are. Some of his remarks, about the Qur’an in particular, do seem inadvisably brave. And yet he is no bigot. Whenever he criticizes the behaviour of a group of people there is at least a superficial case to be made – even if it involves trampling on the assumption that some groups of people should be above criticism, at least from him. Deep down we are all racists, sexists and generalisers of one kind or another, is Capurro’s basic and provocative argument, so stop being such a hypocrite about it.

Weak spot: With all the walkouts and heckling he brings upon himself, it must be almost impossible for a Capurro gig to go according to plan. Which is particularly problematic this year as his show, Goes Deeper, clearly has a fairly serious plan to stick to, involving his relationship with his current boyfriend. Whatever Capurro had in mind, however, it did not come off. In fact it was smashed into a mound of twisted wreckage by the self-adoring heckles of a drunken Dutch girl, who finally had to be removed by security. He dealt with the problem fairly well, considering, but a good portion of the show was ruined, and his wider purpose sidetracked beyond repair.

Audience participation: Sharp intakes of breath, continuous heckles, the mass departure of one entire row in protest at Capurro’s McCann material. Some laughter.

Comic equation: Larry Grayson x (Lenny Bruce + Chris Rock)

Mark out of 10: 7, even though it was a disaster.

Put this on your poster: Warning! Contains strong language, sexual imagery, extreme blasphemy, racial terms, sustained personal abuse and scenes of cruelty to children that all viewers may find distressing.

Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2008
Scott Capurro Goes Deeper
Description Review Comments
Show Rating: 5 STARS
Scott Capurro has been positively goading people to walk out of his shows – and, true enough, they’ve been leaving in their droves. It begs the question why; he’s being doing this bitter, brutally odious humour from the viewpoint of a narcissistic, predatory gay man since being nominated as the Perrier newcomer in 1994. Anyone taking even the most cursory glance at what show they’re buying tickets for should be all-too aware of what atrocities to expect.

But when every other comic seems to be dumping a rape gag into their set as a shortcut to acquiring some phoney measure of ‘offensive’ cool, maybe the word’s losing its meaning. Capurro, however, is on a level of viciously uninhibited nastiness all of his own.

He’s a man for whom bad taste means wearing white socks, not lines like: ‘Why shouldn’t I rape my black nigger?’ which he drops casually into the monologue. The I-Spy book of kneejerk shock subjects are certainly covered: Madelaine McCann, Aids, Mohammed, Jill Dando, the Holocaust, Josef Fritzl and, erm, Alan Carr. You’ll hear jokes about al of them this festival, but rarely, if ever as uncompromisingly extreme as the acidic Capurro pushes them. It is impossible to overstate the enormity of his material.

It’s relentless, too. Capurro speaks 19 to the dozen, presenting one viciously evil image after another. There is no escape from the intensity of its unpleasantness; it can feels like the stand-up equivalent of the Clockwork Orange aversion therapy film.

Yet accept the ferocious, corrosive material in the provocative spirit it’s intended, and it is brilliantly, shockingly funny. So far beyond the pale that the only reaction to laugh, partly out of discomfort, partly out of the sheer audacity of it all.

This is grade-A, pure hardcore comedy, mind, not for the casual dabbler. But if you’ve gone through the gateway comics who cut their offence cut with whimsy and tomfoolery, and feel you’re ready for something much, much stronger, Capurro is your man. Much of the show concerns itself with graphic descriptions of gay sex, of course, but by the end of the hour pretty much every sacred cow you can think of has been turned into beefburgers.

He makes this material as palatable as it’s ever going to be by his exaggerated persona. There’s a subtle playfulness behind it all, and he’s just such a ridiculously offensive caricature of empty promiscuity, self-centred bitchiness and unadulterated unpleasantness, you shouldn’t really be taking any of it that seriously.

This particular show feels like the triumphant culmination of the evil he’s been peddling for the past 14-odd years, combined with an honest glimpse into the realities of his life. It can’t be stressed enough that this show isn’t for everyone, but if you suspect you’ll like it, you’ll probably love it.

Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

When can I see this show?

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Wednesday 13th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Thursday 14th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Friday 15th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Saturday 16th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Sunday 17th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Monday 18th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Wednesday 20th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Thursday 21st Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Friday 22nd Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Saturday 23rd Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper

When: 21:15 to 22:15 - Sunday 24th Aug, ‘08
Venue: Underbelly
Prices: £6 to £11.50
Show: Scott Capurro Goes Deeper