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John Cage's IndeterminacyUsurp Chance Tour With Stewart Lee, Komedia, Brighton

By Kirsty Levett in The Brighton Argus Posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2014

In Komedia’s laidback underground North Laine lair, tables on the stage were covered in toys. A child’s Speak & Spell, modified stylophones, a Barbie strapped to a sitar and a biscuit tin, just a few of the curios on display, were a colourful aesthetic introduction to the Conspirators of Pleasure.

Promising to introduce us to the pioneering, avante-garde ideas surrounding John Cage’s musicology, particularly the concept of Indeterminacy – random interpretations of a performance piece according to the performer’s mood, or indeed an audience’s, or an instrument’s – Poulomi Desai, Seth Aayaz and Simon Underwood set about confusing the living s*** out of some people, who had come expressly to see famous comedian Stewart Lee.

The handful of audience members who, by the second half, hadn’t worked out that Lee wasn’t here in comedic but in experimental music boffin form, with their (ironic) determination to laugh doggedly at any pause in Lee’s poetic phrasing, mistaking it for comic timing, meant that unfortunately, Cage’s original ideas were largely lost in translation – but for one thing; it happened, however excruciating.

It was still a philosophical event of some description, even if that description involved the words “car” and “crash”. Erudite performance, deeply uncomfortable listening.

Written by Kirsty Levett in The Brighton Argus on 26th March 2014. Filed Under: Indeterminacy, John Cage
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