The Ventnor Fringe Festival is almost upon us (note the new dates 23rd-28th July). The six day wonderland of pop-up bars and boutique venues, will this year feature more than 300 artists from across the world.
Attention Seeker
Gerard Harris is one such artist, bringing his award-winning ADHD show to the Isle of Wight on 24th and 25th July.
The anxiety-riddled jokewriter/doormat for a famous comedian crashes into the standup spotlight – armed with paralysing fear, blind panic and jokes the comedian didn’t buy – and sets out to prove just who’s really the funny one. The rest is history… except history is usually written by the winners.
Gerard explains,
“Ostensibly it’s about what it’s like to drag yourself up on stage when you’re spectacularly shy, nervous, confused and a little bitter when your friend leaves you for dust as they become famous, but really it’s about education, meditation and this rampant plague of distractedness that afflicts us all.
“It’s been performed around 100 times and has played everywhere from Montreal to Minnesota, Off-Broadway in New York (where we only lost hundreds of dollars!) to New Zealand, Canada, Australia and now, finally, the UK where Gerard only performed for the first time last year despite being British.”
What others say
Attention Seeker has also won several awards, including Best Comedy Performer for Gerard’s debut at the Buxton Fringe (in which he says he takes some tiny pride because nobody knows who the heck he is and he was the only nominee that didn’t have ‘from BBC’s / CH4’s [show] splattered all over their posters).
‘Incredibly smart, funny’ – ★★★★★ Edmonton Journal, CA
‘Very funny, reminiscent of Woody Allen in his early-60s stand-up years’ – Pioneer Press, Minneapolis, US
‘Ronnie Corbett with Tourettes’ – Signifying Nothing, Buxton, UK
Book your seats
Attention Seeker takes place on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th July at 6.30pm (one hour) at the Comedy & Cabaret Tent, Parkside, Park Avenue.
Tickets are £10 each (£8 concessions), £28 for four and 2-for-1 for Fringe Friends.
Book online or pop into the Ventnor Exchange on Church Street (the old Post Office).
The show is for those aged 16+. It has some adult themes and plenty of rude words, but you can take your kids (at least if you want them to grow up quickly).
Find about more about Gerard by visiting his Website.
Our thanks to Gerard for sponsoring for this feature. He and other businesses and organisations taking paid promotion enables you to continue reading OnTheWight for free.
Image: © Jackie Jubel © Vanessa Velasco
