JAZZ EMU: THE PLEASURE IS ALL YOURS
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
★★★★★
“unique, surreal and consistently hilarious”
Earlier today, a friend asked me what it took to get five stars at a fringe level. I’ve never really had a metric. Probably never will. But if I had to say, and so I said then in reply, I would say a show within which I can’t find any noteworthy fault or facet that I would change.
There is not a single thing I would change about Jazz Emu: The Pleasure is all Yours.
As a show, it’s genre-transcending; not in any arthouse, revolutionary way, but in the fashion of an artist so overwhelmed with their platter of impressive talents that they simply cannot just focus on one. And nor should they. Archie Henderson, aka Jazz Emu, is one such artist. I think I ought to keep this review on the shorter side because I genuinely think it’s best enjoyed going in completely blind, and there’s so many strings and motifs, genre and form turns (from music to comedy to film) that describing any one would give the impression that it somehow exceeds the others. But this is not the case. The best thing about Jazz Emu is how seamlessly and consistently everything intertwines; early in the show, he makes a slightly erroneous reference to Chekhov’s gun, which he more than embodies, not only in actually firing the gun later on, but in every other joke. No matter how random each one seems, it’s always returned to in a satisfying, or “gruntling” (In his parlance) way. There’s even a reprise of jokes about reprises. All this makes a wonderful antidote to the absurdly camp, somewhat surrealist tone of the show at large. Henderson creates the atmosphere of comically unhinged mania but in reality is in total control.
A wonderful exemplification of this is his unique delivery; many of the punchlines are almost whispered, or made as seemingly offhand comments, so that the audience collectively settles into the joke as they put the pieces together. From quips about his untraceable accent to songs about the strangeness of human biology and his totally not plagiarised hierarchy of needs, many of the best jokes are nestled into the set up, rendering every other line worthy of a laugh. There’s no weak section, either; even ones which initially seem a little too conceptual or absurd soon win you ever.
If you’re looking for something unique, surreal and consistently hilarious in a variation of creative ways, Jazz Emu is for you. The character Henderson crafts is so vivid and watchable that I now feel a little uncomfortable that he isn’t real; despite his absurd narcissism he’s likeable, and despite his abundant talents he never seems genuinely braggadocio or self-indulgent. Also the songs are genuinely catchy; finding the perfect number of irony layers to actually just be really good again. I can’t recommend the show enough, if you’re in the mood. I’m now gonna go check out his YouTube channel. It’s infectious.
JAZZ EMU: THE PLEASURE IS ALL YOURS
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Reviewed on 15th AUgust 2025 at Queen Dome at Pleasance Dome
by Horatio Holloway
Photography by Matt Stronge
