Fabian Lapham & The Actual Musicians: God Fights the Dinosaurs & 9 Other Stories That Will Awesome You In The Face

The line between an ironic self-awareness and plain cockiness is fine, and is made no clearer in Fabian Lapham's musical-comedy mashup, God Fights the Dinosaurs & 9 Other Stories That Will Awesome You in the Face. Traditional stand-up takes a back seat in this artfully-crafted, yet disjointed musical chaos, in which the ensemble manages to improve most of Lapham's routines with unsubtle, tone-affirming scoring. Lapham struggles to maintain the momemtum of some of his material, relying on too many 'easy-outs' and cheap, crude punchlines, leaving the audience rather underwhelmed. Lapham enjoys a few comedic wins, which are most often his simpler jokes. A 60-second cram of one-liners delivers solid laughs that leave you wishing the rest of the show had this effortless sophistication. The audience is well served by ignoring the subtleties of his often unpolished jokes, but rather the general absurdity of the whole thing, which is the real star of the show.