Olver: Portrait of a Serial Killer

What did you want to be as a child? A policeman? A nurse? A firefighter? For comedian Mark Olver, the answer he emphatically gives is a little unusual. Olver, you see, wanted to be a serial killer. And, for an hour, he shares with us exactly how, for the last 15 or so years, he's been making this particular dream come true.

Portrait of A Serial Killer is a show bursting with ideas. Indeed, for a good 30 minutes or so, this is a strong, if slightly shambolic, performance which Olver marshalls to great effect. But then he reveals his particular victims of choice: clowns.

Suddenly, what looked like quite an original concept is simply waylaid by this massive cliché. This isn't a case of being fickle: much of the last third of the set is devoted to florid descriptions of a fantasy secret war between comedians and clowns, culminating in a pre-recorded video message from Olver's celebrity pal, Russell Howard. And all the while, I'm sitting there bored and disappointed.

And, yes, maybe it's messy and maybe it doesn't necessarily always work and maybe the audience interaction is a little stilted, but all this could have been forgiven were the entire premise of the show not suddenly diverted down such a contrived and dull avenue.

There are enough laughs to be had, borne out of Olver's evident ability as a comedian and his ramshackle hold over proceedings. But, as it is, one leaves Portrait of A Serial Killer feeling more than a little underwhelmed.