Winner of Best Newcomer at VAULT Festival 2017, Joseph Cullen’s You Having Olaf? fuses character comedy and stand up in a way that’s painful to watch and upsetting to be around. One reviewer claimed “the overwhelming urge to shake him has to be constrained” (Daniel Perks).
Likened to Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee and Tim Minchin, Joseph Cullen shares an insight into the mind of a recovering children’s entertainer; from his decision to take the heinous job the first place, to his breakdown at a 6 year old’s birthday party that made him think “maybe this job isn’t for me…”, the tragic events betwixt, and the residual effect of poor life choices.
Unapologetically self-defacing and bleak, You Having Olaf? features slam poetry, live action balloon modelling, and debilitating flashbacks of discos past.
“His spoken word poetry, at times a steady cadence and rhythm of popular rap, has hints of word mastery akin to Tim Minchin” (Daniel Perks).
“This is rogue creative writing at its comedic peak, and one wonders if Cullen might even consider publishing a poetry collection from virtue of the brilliance we saw tonight […] With an atom bomb’s worth of improper jests, You Having Olaf? is an outstanding, outrageous comedy”
