Carey Marx: Scoundrel

People believe in some rather bizarre things. From ghosts to God, séances to magic, Carey Marx is on a mission to highlight the painfully obvious fallacies that some still treat with credence, producing a fantastic show while he’s at it.

Charting those situations where seemingly sensible people show faith in things that would otherwise seem utterly ridiculous, Marx suffers no shortage of engaging and hilarious tales. We hear about his career at Pontin's and his obsession with practising magic (with some Uri Gellar thrown into the mix) as part of his tale of scepticism towards the otherworldly.

From the moment he wanders in through the door of Stand 2 like an inconspicuous spectator, there is no deviation from an unassuming and hospitable mood. There's no room here for grandeur, gimmicks or prancing around the stage; Marx is a standup in the old sense, keeping his audience enthralled with real-life stories and well-constructed routines.  

Simultaneously dark and benign, he never oversteps the mark of good taste and always maintains a clever blend of cynicism and sympathy. Any points that could see Marx deviate into the impertinent are saved by a laddish grin.

This is a comic who knows how to appeal to his audience and throughout the hour they respond in kind, reciprocating the hospitality coming from the stage. You never lose the sense that Marx knows how to get the most out of his audience – it seems to come naturally.