Know One's Fool

4/5

Know One's Fool, a one-man show by Jonathan Kay, is not for anyone who wants to relax, sit back and be entertained.

It's a brain-tingling, deliciously dangerous blend of the experience of giving yourself over completely to the stand-up comedian, the psychiatrist sitting next to your couch, the possible charlatan and the melancholy clown.

The show is deeply thoughtful, wickedly funny and completely unpredictable. It's pretty obvious this performer has one of those quick-fire minds who simply picks up an idea and runs with it sometimes to ludicrous extremes.

There is that deep thrill of knowing this performance is truly unique on the night I saw Kay at the newly-opened Stratford Circus Arts Centre, in East London, a young woman crept in to join her friend about 10 minutes into the show. It was a purely chance event but it completely shaped the programme that night. Kay's mischievous mind set to work and not only did she come perilously close to singing Baa Baa Black Sheep solo centre stage but the rest of us were roundly implicated in her downfall. The young woman had no idea of what had gone at the start so was a prime candidate for all sorts of mischief.

But rest assured no one was forced on stage. Believe it or not there were plenty of willing volunteers so , the show, which depends on audience participation never faltered.

The simple set established the scene perfectly. This show will work wonderfully in the intimate and atmospheric Brockley Jack Theatre where it opens on February 12.

That night the 26-strong audience, who were in their mid-20s on average, were perhaps too willing to become putty in Kay's hands. I could not help thinking it would have been riveting to engage with this renown physical performer, improvisor and exponent of fooling and interactive theatre in a more equal battle of wills. This also meant once or twice it felt as though there was too much audience participation (game but shy audience members too ready to get on stage and too happy to stay there for too long) and I just wanted more inspired fooling.

Prepare to be forced to think about some really existential stuff, hold your breath to find out what's in that huge battered trunk of his and leave your preconceptions at the door.

- Feb 12-16, Know One's Fool, Brockley Jack Theatre, Brockley Road, 8pm, £8/£5/£4, 020 8279 1000.