Peter Dobbing: Armchair Futurologist III

• Brian Donaldson
• 30 August 2016

This article is from 2016

A show about the future that dwells on the past

There are few shows at the Fringe or anywhere else during which you are encouraged to charge your phone onstage. But Peter Dobbing is so gadget-friendly that he seems mildly miffed that not more people are taking him up on his kind offer: though don't take advantage of his generosity by checking on a text message before you've left his stage unless you want an earful of banter.

In this this latest part to Dobbing's Armchair Futurologist saga in which he focuses on the tech ideas that are going to be all the rage very soon, he slightly undermines his topical case by delivering material about the controversial findings by the government's former advisor on drugs policy, David Nutt. And by 'the government', we mean the last Labour administration, who dismissed him in 2009.

There's a lot of fairly humdrum chat here about Bitcoin and Netflix and our naivety with passwords, while the last section feels nothing less than a spot of free advertising for virtual reality headset manufacturers. While we are encouraged to all participate in sampling a disgusting-looking 'health' drink, the grand finale is just for one guy who is enticed up to wear a headset and tap into an amazing experience that no one else can enjoy. It's the perfect metaphor for Peter Dobbing's latest Fringe show.

Sneaky Pete's, run ended.