Review: F.B.P.K:

Directed by: Keri Miller

Performed by: Martin Evans

F.B.P.K. is the story about the best year of Martin Evan’s life. The story starts with Martin having a broken leg and no Medical Aid or Hospital plan. Best year of his life? Yeah, you read right.

The show starts off with a small movie where Martin gives a quick recap about his year. That he crashed in front of the house of the lady he would later ask to marry on a tropical island, and that they later bought a house from Desmond Tutu. It mixes these heartwarming scenes with shots of Martin’s external fixation which are stomach churning to say the least. The short movie sets the mood for the rest of the show. The movie says it best… “this is a story about guts, rather than six packs”, and by this time it is clear you are in for a treat.

Martin comes on stage and puts down his beer. He starts by explaining how he was in a horrific accident on his souped-up Zuma scooter which led to him being in a wheel chair for six months. While in hospital, he learned about different cultures South Africa has to offer. His fights with doctors over his morphine levels being too low, being released from hospital and sitting at home with a hard drive of porn. What is a man to do?

Behind Martin pictures are shown to accompany his story. This was a first for me in a stand up show and I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t used in a way to take attention away from Martin too much but rather it helped bring certain points home.  Martin goes on to talk about being able to walk again, touring the country, getting to know more interesting people and past experiences with AMA (Afrikaans Martial Arts). Martin delivers jokes about Afrikaners in a way that doesn’t so much offend, but entertains. He changes his voice slightly to put in that well known Afrikaner accent but in a tasteful way which is still hilarious.  This is great to see, cause I are be a Afrikaner myself and I for felt before that I can like to P.K. a guy for making the funny about us.

Martin’s show is not yet at a level that he himself would like it to be. I have had the pleasure of seeing the show twice in a row and although most of the show is the same, some bits are different and others seemed funnier the second night. The latter was mostly due to the crowd being a bit more diverse the second night than the first night. I did find it rather interesting to see how a crowd can make a difference to a show, but I digress.

F.B.P.K. is not a ‘laugh a minute’ stand up show where all the ‘easy’ jokes are made. There are some really sweet moments mixed in. I was hoping the show would tell more of how Martin met his Fiancée in the end? He does mention that it was after the crash but where, how and when? This might be kept for future shows though, time will tell.

In the end, F.B.P.K. is a sweet funny story of how a man takes every day as it comes. It is still a young show and I would love to see it grow into something big. Here is hoping that a longer run happens soon. This show is a must see.