Michael Winslow

To call Michael Winslow the funniest thing in the Police Academy films would be rather like complimenting his once-mulleted co-star Steve Guttenberg for having the best hair in a crowd of bald men. But as the “guy who made the funny noises” in that ubiquitous 80s guilty pleasure, Winslow makes his Fringe debut needing only to surf a wave of nostalgia to receive a standing ovation.

People are duly on their feet after his finale of mimicking the psychedelic guitar of Jimi Hendrix using just his freakishly malleable voice and a distorted microphone. Winslow’s shtick might be strictly gimmick-based, but what a brilliant gimmick his is, relished with the goofy joy of an overgrown child.

Sadly, most else about his routine falls flat. Winslow’s no standup—his spoken material is nondescript at best—and his vocal dexterity is restlessly applied. He merely skims the surface of bountiful routines about surfing the airwaves of 70s AM radio and interfering in an argument between his upstairs neighbours when he could easily plunge in and swim the backstroke until your face runs with tears.

It’s a set-piece themed on Star Wars that provides Winslow’s best moment, when he uncannily overdubs the sound to the TIE-fighters vs Millennium Falcon shootout scene from episode IV, replete with Princess Leia whining about needing the bathroom. In a show that’s all about folks of a certain age revisiting a staple of their youth, he might as well have done the whole movie.