"Paul gallops through his one hour show illustrating why he has been theatrically successful, jumping from one brilliantly drawn characterisation to another, from the piano, through classical pastiches and parodies, back to finely-tuned impersonations."
Adey Ramsel, Theatreview
"Paul Barrett is a hell of a showman behind his grand piano, a polished performer on the keys in his own right, but add in a sense of comic timing, pitch perfect camp delivery and a knack for impersonations and entertainment levels sky rocket."
TV3 review
TIC TIC
By Michelanne Forster and Paul Barrett
Directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand
Presented by Strata Creative
at TAPAC Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
Reviewed by Nik Smythe
12 Jun 2011
There are large shiny cartoon letters spelling ‘TIC TIC' swaying gently against the plush black curtain backdrop, with the audience quite clearly reflected in them, offering us a literal look at ourselves. Which is all very nice, but we're here to look at Paul Barrett and he himself is here to show us himself, as indeed he does.
Introducing said self with a flourish, in passing, on the shiny black grand piano, Barrett seats himself on the only other piece of set, a fur-cushioned barstool on a circular red rug, to begin his story in 1965 when, as a young boy growing up in Tawa, he was encouraged to join the cub scouts.
The ensuing tale is of a life spent dealing with the (undiagnosed) condition of Tourette syndrome, which both Barrett and a bit of a read on Wikipedia will tell you comprises a pretty wide range of forms of nervous tics, from physical compulsions to vocal outbursts including the one that made it famous: coprolalia, compulsive swearing.
Barrett's own personal afflictions are predominately physical, though you wouldn't know it if he wasn't telling you so. It seems a life spent in the discipline of music and acting has resulted in some kind of mastery over what can for many other people be an extremely embarrassing and debilitating condition.
Paul Barrett co-wrote his theatrical memoir with seasoned writer Michelanne Forster, and – with the guidance of director Jennifer Ward Lealand – delivers a warm, honest remembrance of the challenges he has faced. His frank, easy, natural style is almost disarmingly familiar as he takes us on the journey of his life, which could as well have been about dealing with the issues of being gay in the days before it was legal, had that trial not taken second fiddle to the more pressing and unconcealable problem of his obsessive compulsions and physical tics.
From his attempts to consider a ‘normal trade like an electrician or plumber' to his frustration in getting taken seriously by the seriously minority industry that was New Zealand drama in the 1970s, Barrett tells it as he remembers it.
And of course the coup de grace to underpin an often funny, always entertaining yarn is Barrett's first class musicianship. Besides a veritable array of eclectic radio and show tunes and original classics such as the informative ‘It's Fun To Learn Greek The Tourette's Way.' there are ingenious segue flourishes and incidental stings. It all combines into the kind of laid back Dean Martin style that you don't see so much these days.
More narratively compelling than its companion piece Hotel – A Cabaret, Tic Tic predominantly focuses on the lighter, more amusing aspects of living such a challenging life. It didn't quite make me cry but I laughed plenty and walked out properly entertained, and glad for the inspiring experience.
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FUNNY, POIGNANT, INSIGHTFUL, EDUCATIONAL AND MUSICAL
Tic Tic at THE BOX, Buick St, Petone, Wellington
Reviewed by John Smythe
14 Apr 2011
Ah, the efficacy of telling your own story in your own voice; of distilling personal experience to an essence that humans recognise! It’s the authenticity that makes it such a valued gift on so many levels.
If that sounds a bit earnest, rest assured Paul Barrett’s Tic Tic is not. It is funny (truth + pain = comedy), poignant, insightful, educational and delightfully musical.
Ostensibly about growing up with, living with and coping with a form of Tourette Syndrome – not the potty-mouthed kind, nor quite the I Claudius kind but more the kind that involves compulsive twitching, twirling and some vocal tics – it emerges as the story of a self-made and self-controlled (as opposed to medically controlled) man.
The desire to discover, know and be oneself despite the external pressures to conform to ‘norms’ or the internal desire to be someone – anyone – else, is universal. The fundamental human connection to what is finally a heroic story of triumph over adversity is therefore very strong.
Along its merry way Tic Tic also offers a social history of New Zealand, seasoned with touches of Gay New Zealand, from 1965 until now, and a history of Tourette’s itself, carried on the wings of a musical history – all crafted with a lightness of touch that belies the skill brought to its making. And in this purpose-driven process we are treated to a consummate performance of richly-drawn characters interwoven with dextrous piano playing and some very good songs. All within an hour.
Barrett shares the writing credit with Michelanne Forster who, on learning he had Tourette syndrome, worked with him to record a series of conversations about his life. The transcriptions provided the starting point for the script, hence its natural flow and tone. I have no idea who wrote “I had the upper body strength of a battery hen” but the script is full of such nuggets of wit.
As he tells his warts-and-all tale, Barrett proves extremely adept at accents. Whether he is recreating a covertly judgemental grandparent (or was she a neighbour?), a character from his beloved Bewitched, a thick school bully, the small-minded careers adviser, the kindly family friend and referee, the savagely imagined voice of his rejection letter from NZ Drama School, a boyfriend or two, the treacly voice of a women’s magazine advice columnist, the Freudian paediatric psychiatrist in New York who sees repressed sexual desire in everything (including Tourette’s), Emperor Claudius, Dr Samuel Johnson or the social worker who ratifies him … his instant portraits are potent.
Sending up himself provides high points, too, as when his early acting style is earnestly overblown, and when he sabotages a first date at Il Casino with his bizarre and compulsive blather: a classic laugh/cry moment.
As well as being a dab-handed pianist from classical to pop, Barrett is clearly a fine composer, e.g. of ‘It’s Fun to Learn Greek the Tourette’s Way’ (a Tom Lehrer pastiche), his withering spoof on Freudian psychiatry, and his final quiet message: ‘If You Meet a Guy (who just can’t keep still) ...’
Jennifer Ward-Lealand, as director, has also overseen the rhythm, flow and tonal changes that make Tic Tic such a pleasure. Don’t wait for someone to bring it to Wellington City. Flock to Petone and enjoy it in the intimacy of The Box where it plays until Saturday.
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DESERVES A LONGER LIFE: Tic Tic (NZ)
Reviewed by Adey Ramsel
Theatreview, 5 May 2010
Actor, musician and composer Paul Barrett squashes the myth straight away that all sufferers of Tourette’s twist and squirm their way through life yelling obscenities. Disappointment set aside, Paul gallops through his one hour show illustrating why he has been theatrically successful, jumping from one brilliantly drawn characterisation to another, from the piano, through classical pastiches and parodies, back to finely-tuned impersonations.
Favourites of the night have to be the careers officer, gay boyfriend Gary and the college thug /bully. The portrayal of a young, confused, but determined boy growing up in the 1960s, where being different was a handicap in itself, is endearing.
Thankfully Paul Barrett is a very talented man who draws on his musical skills to support a story that could well fall flat with mere oratory; although in saying this the highlights of the evening are specific anecdotes that illustrate how Tourette’s has negatively affected him, namely the disastrous conducting of the orchestra and the encounter between aforementioned boyfriend Gary’s eye and Paul’s finger.
The inclusion of more personal anecdotes at the start and less generalisation would have invited us more into Paul’s struggle. We actually need an early invite to laugh openly at something that most of us are reluctant to laugh at. As it was, the homosexual references and banter raised more than their fair share of belly laughs with an audience being on safer ground.
A brief history of Tourette’s, linked very cleverly with composers of the day, works well if you manage to catch the quick link.
Stylishly staged, a tight script and controlled performance, thanks to actor and director, keeps us focused; not an easy task when you’ve no character to hide behind and it’s just yourself very much up there on show.
It’s more a one-man play than cabaret, the asides and quips being too slick and polished to serve the latter. There was obviously very strong industry support in the audience for a loved colleague and it would be interesting to see the general public react to the show.
It would be a shame if Tic Tic got lost in the swarm of comedy festival shows; it deserves a life of its own.
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Review: Tic Tic at the Limelight Lounge
Reviewed by Paul Simei-Barton
NZ Herald, 6 2010
At the more refined end of the Comedy Fest spectrum is an elegant memoir chronicling Paul Barrett's life-long engagement with Tourette's syndrome.
The show opens by debunking the popular and wickedly appealing myth that Tourette's provides some sort of medical sanction for uncontrollable outbursts of extravagantly abusive foul language.
The syndrome is most commonly manifested in muscular or vocal tics - but the exact nature of the condition remains elusive.
For most of his life, Barrett has experienced Tourette's as an undiagnosed set of nervous twitches and a chronic inability to remain still.
As he was growing up in Tawa in the 1960s, these symptoms made him the butt of crude schoolyard humour and severely proscribed his educational opportunities.
The finely crafted script draws on these often-poignant memories that are presented with sardonic, self-deprecating humour. With impressive command of voice and gesture, Barrett brings to life an assortment of the instantly recognisable Kiwi characters who shaped his childhood in Wellington.
An interview with a laconic careers adviser triggers an imaginative fantasy sequence in which Barrett speculates on how his condition might affect his job prospects.
His dream of becoming an actor is roundly dismissed, and Barrett brings the house down with a bitterly sarcastic recollection of a rejection letter he received from the NZ Drama School.
An alternative career in medicine throws up the macabre image of a brain surgeon succumbing to muscular twitches in the middle of an operation.
His romantic life suffers a similar fate as Barrett has a prospective date fleeing after an awkward attempt at small talk spirals into a deranged monologue that resembles Robin Williams on speed.
The show also highlights Barrett's musical abilities, with a grand piano that is used to playfully evoke time travel as well as providing some engaging musical interludes.
Clever Tin Pan Alley-style songs take us on a madcap digression into the history of Tourette's with a hilarious send-up of the kind of sexually obsessed Freudian analysis in which a cigar can never simply be a cigar.
The show concludes with a moving plea for tolerance and a life-affirming realisation that once Barrett accepted his condition, Tourette's ceased to be an obstacle.
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TIC TIC, Limelight Laugh Lounge, Aotea Centre
Reviewed by Jodi Yeats
Theatreview, 5 May 2010
Tic Tic is a really awesome solo show co-written and acted by Paul Barrett. It is in turns touching, hilarious and beautiful.
Paul tells his own story of having Tourette Syndrome from a young age with it remaining undiagnosed until he sought treatment for depression, because he was having so much difficulty coping with its effects, in his late 30s!
He explains that Tourette’s gives rise to various types of physical tics, or uncontrollable twitches, and the uncontrollable swearing that it is so strongly associated with Tourette syndrome affects only about 10 per cent of those who have it.
While he does resort to using a model brain to explain the cause of the disease, by that stage the audience is engaged enough to welcome the information. What carries the theatre is the stories from Paul’s life, often very poignant, of the impact the disease had on his relationships, schooling and career.
That Paul has managed the very public life on stage and as a composer and musical director, perhaps the most challenging career option for someone with physical tics, is a tribute to his passion, fuelled by outstanding talent. However, difficulties with acting did lead to him doing a lot of acting work for radio and voice work in recordings, where his physical twitches weren’t a problem.
Paul shows what a maestro he is, both as an actor and accompanying himself with superb piano playing and singing, in this one-hour long show.
I really enjoyed the scripted, rehearsed, directed nature of the performance, which was very polished, and contrast to the stand-up I so often enjoy in a different way at comedy festivals.
To cap off a wonderful script co-written by Paul and writer Michelanne Forster is superb directing by Jennifer Ward-Lealand who has a marvelous knack for comedy. At times I could almost “see” Jennifer inhabiting Paul’s gestures and expressions.
This is a must see for an extraordinary evening’s entertainment, not to mention a good laugh.
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TIC TIC Review
TV3, 5 May 2010
Part autobiography and part history of Tourette syndrome wrapped up and delivered in a cabaret style, Tic Tic is possibly the most musically intensive show on offer.
Paul Barrett is a hell of a showman behind his grand piano, a polished performer on the keys in his own right but add in a sense of comic timing, pitch perfect camp delivery and a knack for impersonations and entertainment levels sky rocket. http://www.tv3.co.nz
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