Daniel Kitson: Outside

When Michael first suggested booking a rooftop open air June Cog Night. Many of us looked out of the window at the rainy day and overcast sky and only cautiously agreed. Purely based on Michael’s enthusiasm and insistence that we had to book now before it sold out.

How delighted we were then, to find ourselves on a gloriously sunny evening, riding the 177 bus from Greenwich to the Bussey Building in Peckham for Daniel Kitson’s Outside: Work in Progress.

After we walked up what felt like a few too many stairs we emerged onto the rooftop of the Bussey building and were greeted with stunning views across South-East London. Usually used as an outdoor cinema, the performance space consisted of a sea of deck chairs all equipped with QR codes and the now expected drinks-to-seat post pandemic apps that we’ve all come to love and loathe in equal measure.

As we all waited for our drinks to be brought out to us on trays. Daniel Kitson made an unassuming entrance, seemingly emerging from nowhere and jumped straight into a rambling discussion that foreshadowed the (maybe intentional) shambolic nature of the rest of the show.

Daniel kept us rapt with ease through all the usual comic fare including banter with the audience, humorous observations of  the distractions of waiting staff, and a long tirade on the fact that ordering drinks on an app means performers now can’t blame people who are now on their phones. A uniquely 2020-onwards problem.

But beneath all this and often at the punchline of jokes was underlying tone of discomfort and anxiety with the ongoing pandemic that Daniel, and many of us, are clearly still working through.

From latty flows to mask anxiety, Outside explored how we’re all processing the last two years in our own time. Daniel was quick to caveat his experiences. Frequently with the refrain: “I’m lucky: I don’t have kids and I have a garden.”

Observations like the moment it went from laudable to sneaky to have not yet caught Covid-19 or if you now wear a mask in a supermarket you’ll be looked at as if you were wearing oven gloves on a beach were mostly well received. But there was a hint of caution in the crowd as the “it’s not over yet” sensation crept into the escapism of sunny evening on a crowded roof.

The mixed reactions from the crowd further reinforced the sense that different people are at different places in processing the last two years. These reactions were shared among our team. Some of us loved the evening whilst others found the pandemic humour either too obvious or simply not funny anymore.

Yet between all the mixed feelings on the pandemic. There are still things we can all agree on like the fact that listening to someone else’s most harrowing moments in a true crime podcast on your daily walk is a strange and oddly creepy 21st century perversion. Or marvel at how shocking it must be for the snails that Daniel throws from his garden to reach a new unforeseen velocity on their journey over the wall.

Despite making us confused and perhaps bemused with the initial show blurb, Outside delivered all that it promised and more. Leaving us wondering things like “do worms feel fear?” And maybe just helping us to start to make sense of the bizarre journey we’ve all been on over the past two and a half years.

Whilst these kinds of reflections might not stand the test of time. For now they tap into a unique shared global experience.

But what do I know, after all, I’m lucky: I don’t have kids and I have a garden.

Outside continues in outdoor venues around the UK in July. Find a date near you on Daniel’s website.