Hilarious ‘Love Factually’ plays on age-old issues
POPULAR comedian Alan Committie has teamed up with Centrestage to present a brand-new, gloriously funny exploration of the battle of the sexes to bring Love Factually to the Boardwalk Amphitheatre today and tomorrow.
Following a role that had seen him star in 963 performances after he alternated with Tim Plewman in the record-breaking comedy Defending the Caveman, Committie felt it was time to take a fresh look at relationships in the “crazy new modern era”.
“Love Factually, much like Defending the Caveman before it, is a show that celebrates relationships in all their mad, crazy, foible-filled forms.
“I’ve been through the long-term partnerships, the shorter dalliances, one-night interactions and the ‘how did this happen’ couplings,” Committie chuckled.
Given that the show tackles the topic, Committie was asked to relate his worst experience in a relationship.
“The worst was when I was 12 years old – madly in love with the beautiful Lynne Joubert.
“I composed a magnificent love letter and gave it to my best friend Shane with the instruction ‘go now and win her heart’ – which is exactly what he did. He won her heart.
“I’ve been in recovery ever since,” the comedian said.
Love Factually has a cinema-tinged storyline, starting with a stage set that plonks him in the movies with one eye on the screen and one eye on the phone, waiting for his girlfriend to text him after an argument.
Committie confessed he was a “huge fan of romantic movies”.
“It seems to me that, unlike other movies that try to take us out of ourselves and our mundane lives, the rom-com pretends that it is a reflection of our reallife relationships.
“Part of my show’s narrative is to show that real life is no rom-com. It’s a far funnier, crazier story and we never know the ending,” Committie said.
He added that, as with all his shows, Love Factually drew from his personal life but also from people, conversations and incidents around him and that his “antennae are always pricked”.
The funnyman and former co-host of Redcake said he tried to write a new stand-up show every 12 months.
He promised audiences a fast and funny look at relationships and why men and women still fould it hard to fully believe that their “unique” problems also belonged to everyone else.
Love Factually is directed by Committie’s long-time collaborator Christopher Weare.
It starts at 7.30pm and tickets are R160 per person, available at Computicket, or contact Wendy on 082-661-6921.