Spencer Jones: Dogs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A show for people who love dogs and for people who don’t. They’ll be all new characters, stupid songs, visual comedy, stories and maybe an answer to the question: Are dogs better than humans?”

There is something wonderfully infectious about Spencer Jones. Dogs is the sort of show that appears to be held together by string, gaffer tape and the sheer force of Jones’ imagination, yet somehow, underneath all the apparent chaos, even though everything is meticulously timed. And yes, there are dogs. But this is far less about dogs than it is about the wonderfully peculiar comic world that Spencer Jones has created.

Spencer Jones's direction feels wonderfully chaotic, but that is absolutely part of its nature. This is not a show that wants to look polished in the traditional sense, and it shouldn't. There is a lovely sense that anything could happen at any moment, while Jones somehow always knows exactly where he is going next. It has charm in abundance and, importantly, knows exactly what it wants to be. The apparent disorder is part of the joke.

LX doesn’t really change very much, even though there are moments where I think it could have. A little more variation could have added another visual layer to some of the comedy. However, I did love the fairy lights towards the end. They provide a surprisingly lovely contrast to the madness that has come before them.

Sound is nicely balanced. Having a live keyboard and loop station on stage could easily become problematic, particularly in a show where so much of the comedy relies on timing and spoken delivery. Still, here everything is mixed neatly, and you can always hear exactly what you are meant to.

The set looks as though chaos has been deliberately left behind on stage, and I suspect that is exactly the point. There is stuff everywhere, props appear from seemingly impossible places, and Jones has an almost supernatural ability to know where everything is. It reminded me of Tommy Cooper: the wonderfully reassuring feeling that something has gone catastrophically wrong, while the performer is actually completely in control.

The book is random. Completely random. But that is part of Spencer Jones’ charm. Everything appears to happen spontaneously, yet the timing is actually incredibly precise. A prop appears at exactly the right moment, a character returns precisely when you’ve forgotten about them, and a seemingly throwaway idea suddenly becomes important several minutes later. There were, however, a few moments where I felt certain ideas went on too long. When the comedy is this deliberately ridiculous, sometimes the funniest thing you can do is leave before the audience has had time to work out what on earth is happening.

Music and lyrics by Spencer Jones are partly improvised and are consistently funny and genuinely enjoyable to listen to. The combination of live keyboard, loop station and Jones’ wonderfully strange musical brain creates some of the show’s funniest moments. The fact that you can never be entirely sure whether something was planned or invented on the spot only adds to the fun.

And then there is Spencer Jones himself. His performance is wonderfully charming. He has such a natural charisma and is instantly lovable. There is something beautifully innocent about the way he presents himself, as though he is perpetually slightly confused by what is happening around him, even though he is clearly the person orchestrating all of it.

Dogs is a wonderfully silly piece of comedy that understands exactly what makes Spencer Jones so enjoyable to watch. It is chaotic without being careless, random without actually being random and ridiculous without ever feeling forced. There are a few moments where the pacing could be tightened, and the lighting could have offered a little more variety, but these are relatively minor complaints in a show with this much personality.

Spencer Jones: Dogs plays at Pleasance Queen Dome from the 5–30 August at 8:15 pm and runs approximately 60 minutes. Book tickets for Spencer Jones: Dogs here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/spencer-jones-dogs