Review: Ali Brice's Lemonade Stand

100487 original

Ali Brice is back with his Lemonade Stand, another delightfully oddball tale which features Lemonadrian, an Aussie guy with a bad haircut who sells lemonade to thirsty folk. But his motivation doesn’t just lie in refreshing strangers for a pound but to seek the first pound coin that his dad ever made and subsequently lost. The only problem is, Lemonadrian is down to his last lemon.

Brice is a member of the Weirdo’s Comedy Collective of alternative comedians so it’s little surprise the show is full of shambling storytelling and unexpected shenanigans. Plenty goes wrong, things fall over, the props are shoddy, the audience don’t get the participation right, allowing Brice to feign an amusing exasperation. But it’s in these homespun qualities that the charm of the show lies. It’s impossible to predict what exactly is going to happen next so you may as well go with it. It’s all part of the fun.

Events become a touch post-modern as Brice adds a layer of depth to the chaos stepping out to address the crowd as "himself" to discuss the apparent reasons for his writing of the play.

There are some beautifully absurdist elements along the way too, largely thanks to Brice’s inventive props. The sight of Brice and the hapless audience member he has chosen as his stooge dressed as pancakes attempting to tempt out the "lemon fairy" is a priceless moment.