Bonfire Man brings joy, humour and bafflement in the best way possible with these wacky, unique and extremely distinct characters.
Ben MacPherson’s Bonfire Man explores, mockumentary style, the crazy devoted festival lovers who attend the Nevada Desert every year to leave their souls behind with other creatives in the blistering heat at a festival that’s completely unique – maybe similar but legally different – from the other festival that may also be based in a desert.
From a kinky, Glaswegian ice cream man who actually just works for the council, to a giant 6ft tall lizard man who is trying to start a tech company, this character comedy show honestly has everything you could think of – or even everything you could never have thought of. Ben MacPherson showcases his amazing mind and creativeness with Bonfire Man. The script was solid and had some nice, simple comedy that landed and then some really nice physical comedy and improvisation which was a great hit with the crowd. The improvisation scenes were a highlight for the show and seemed like a comfortable strong point for MacPherson as the set up allowed him to work with anything given to him and he handled it with ease. The community feel between all the characters really did come across and was a great addition as it did add a connection between these creatives who all have this similar love for this weird and wonderful festival. The mockumentary overtures in between scenes were a very smart addition by MacPherson to allow the story and show to be constant and continue for the whole hour even when MacPherson was off stage.
The only issues with the show weren’t even the fault of MacPherson as a performer or a producer. Some slight technical issues with cues jumping, however, MacPherson handled this as a professional and used his improv comedy skills to joke about it from the off set which let the audience laugh with him and even enjoy the slight discrepancies. The only real issue was the sound bleeding from the other stages within the Omni set up. Again this wasn’t a fault of anyone, it just is what it is. Nevertheless, the sound bleeding did affect some of the voice overs towards the end of the show as some were hard to hear.
In conclusion, MacPherson showcased his creative mind with this outlandishly funny piece of art. Bonfire Man highlights the eccentric community who attend these festivals and is an extremely fun time for all audiences.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
Currently playing PBH’s Free Fringe till 28th (not Tuesdays) at 20:00 in the Omni centre.
Theatre Scotland 
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