REVIEW: Feel Felt Found (Auckland Fringe)

I found this play to be funny

Nic Sampson, Ryan Richards and Barnaby Fedric suit up well

Pity the struggling actor. In order to support themselves when work runs dry, they must take a serious of unholy jobs until the day Peter Jackson rings out of the blue with a film offer. The ‘comic triumvirate’ behind Feel Felt Found – Ryan Richards, Nic Sampson and Barnaby Fedric must have experienced something along these lines. “Inspired by the time spent dabbling in telemarketing” they write in the program, this fast-paced comic morality tale displays an apathy towards the ethics of big business and selling things people don’t want or need.

‘Feel Felt Found’ is a marketing concept that can be used to sell anything. The business in Feel Felt Found uses it to sell the David McEwan investment report (the show’s sponsor, as it turns out, and a report you can get for free!). It goes something like: “It’s interesting you feel that way... a lot of people have felt that way... but what they have found is completely opposite”. Ryan Richards plays the affable lead that is drawn into the world of selling and sells his soul to the devil in order to succeed (or at least, give the devil a lingering pash!).

Nic Sampson and Barnaby Fedric play a host of supporting roles. They play brilliantly off each other as the two Garrys - two people called Garry at the office whose bravura don’t match their actions. Sampson’s megalomaniac boss is a great creation.

There is a mad energy through the show, and they exploit their scenario for all its worth, filling it in with as many sketches imaginable in this type of workplace. The story arc is predictable, but what happens through it isn’t, with many unexpected comic moments, and one of the more creative death scenes I’ve seen. There is a juvenile South Park type sensibility, falling back on easy laughs from wees and poos joke, which their witty script shows they don’t need.

It’s all surface sure, and doesn’t leave me much to think about afterwards. But in the moment its funny, the cast are super talented and watchable, and if there is any justice, shouldn’t have to go back to telemarketing.

Feel Felt Found plays as part of the Auckland Fringe Festival at the Basement Theatre until the 1st March.

More information on the Auckland Fringe Website.