Asher Treleaven: Troubadour

• Henry Northmore
• 28 August 2012

This article is from 2012

The Aussie comedian amiably breaks his life down into six parts

It’s a question you wish more stand ups would ask before embarking on a 30 date Festival run: ‘is my life actually interesting enough to talk about for a whole hour?’. Of course by posing this query at the start of his show Asher Treleaven sets himself up for an almighty fall if the answer is a categorical ‘no’ (especially as the audience get to vote at the end).

He breaks down his life via the principles of Edward de Bono’s theory of Six Thinking Hats (representing Creativity, Facts, Positive Thinking, etc) so we get a pleasing insight into this Australian comedian’s life from his complex relationships with various father figures to his time as a giant cookie mascot. Treleaven’s so amiable and open you can’t help but warm to him. There are a couple of great gags and the structure keeps the pace moving, including a saucy demo of circus skills, however some of the punchlines need to be stronger.

So back to the opening question, unfortunately we can’t give as resounding ‘yes’ more an affectionate ‘almost’.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, run now ended.