Old God

Alec Jones-Trujillo is american, but in this show it's almost forgiveable. With great skill and an enviable amount of energy, he takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride of mime, improvised mime, stand-up, crowdwork and poetry recitations. How he maintained that energy? The answer can only be cocaine, or an unfettered desperation for success.

I've never seen mime at all. When someone moves in a goblin-like manner I become filled with envy: I'd love to be able to move like this. To the untrained eye, it was almost like his resting poses were lifted straight from ballet? In reality, I have no idea.

He approached his piece with an insane amount of energy. Whether he was making fun of the audience or reciting TS Elliot's "The Wasteland", the words tumbled from his mouth in a perfect flow. I do not know how he achieved the rehearsed speed of this piece nor why he was doing it for an unpaid audience. Was it practice? Did he go to a revered school? Does he just speak at that pace in his day-to-day life? I for one could not tell. It was exhausting to watch, especially semi-sleep-deprived at 10:00pm.

Spoiler: He used the last 15 minutes to detatch from his character and "riff"- a very rehearsed riff that ended at 10:15pm on the dot. As much as I respect the craft in his timing, I for one prefer when a piece actually has the decorum to finish up early instead of squeezing every second from it. I've personally been scarred by poetry nights too long, but understand this is subversive if you're doing mime. Surely. Surely it's subversive. Right?

Old God not only breaks the fourth wall, it shatters the fourth wall into unrecognisably tiny pieces. The best of mime, clown, crowdwork, meta, proper theatrrrre, comedy, it's just genius. Every step is masterfully performed but with an overall element of improv. The facade comes down and is deconstructed before being erected again several times. You simply must see this, the amount of talent personified in one hour is beyond belief. Truly exceptional work.

Old God is a wildcard that defies easy categorization. The show is in the bouffon tradition but is also something entirely new and fresh. Regardless, Old God provoked some of the most visceral laughs I experienced at Fringe this year via sharp social commentary coupled with clever silliness. He is definitely deserving of a MGG.

It was absolutely great . Very talented and (clever)funny man . I like clowns but even if you didn't , this act is very funny . No i need to say .. good !

This was unbelievable, watching was like being in a David Lynch film. It made me think about what a clown is, what a joke is, and what entertainment is all about. World class mime, world class whistling, word class recital, world class asides. World class and award winning clowning. One of the most affecting things I have ever seen. Don't second guess this, don't read the description, don't read this review just don't miss this show. For me Old God cast a huge shadow over the rest of the Fringe.