Jordan Raskopoulos - The Fool
Have you ever thought what it would be like to crawl inside someone's brain and poke around and see what gets those wheels turning? Jordan Raskopoulos’ The Fool is just that, a look into the mind of a mad cap genius were everything is questioned, things are taken quite literal and a song is never far away. Do I regret this journey…no not at all (in fact I asked for it) ... was I prepared, Hell no!!! Now I've been fangirling over Jordan for years, yes I saw her when she fronted Axis of Awesome, yes I did sign up to twitch just to watch her play a game where the protagonist was a chicken, yes I've tagged my brother in many of her Instagram posts whether it be about your mum throwing out your Pokémon cards (that hit too close to home for my bro) or Jordan making up lyrics to Skee Lo’s I wish dressed up as Dora the Explorer, but never have I had the honour to witness the beautiful chaos in person until now.
The Fool is playing as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival and is a mixed bag complete with power point prompts, musical segues, erotic fiction and so many pop culture references that you will be howling along at just how relatable our different lives, really are.
Jordan enters from side stage to the theme song of Gladiators, but it is not her muscles that we are here to see her flex, it's the big brain of hers and the intimate audience (presume to be fans or at least one half is, the others assume have been dragged along by one) are ready to hang off her every word. From here we are treated to her daily observations like why don't her neurotypical friends have exciting things to play with or piles of stuff inhabiting corners of their rooms, there’s the original Ted Talk idea about why Paper would never beat rock and the theory put to her therapist that she could take Big Bird in a fight (just don’t think about Garibaldo the Brazilian version, he’s tweaking and looks like he will kill you and make your skin into a suit). All these musings are interwoven with parody songs. This is truly where I think her wit and sense of humour shine. We get treated to a romantic serenade in the style of Billie Eilish’s bad guy about the love her life, the Kebab guy.
Harry Styles' Watermelon Sugar gets turned into a beautiful and side splittingly funny duet between Jordan and Frank Walker (yes that frank walker of national tiles... Heeeeeeelllllooooooo) and last but not least her informative and candid "fuck you" to all those intrusive people that just had to know “what’s going on down there?” We built this Clitty is a rock anthem for the ages that I can promise you will get stuck in your head and you will have to fight the urge to sing it out loud. What I admire about Jordan is that she will always beat you to the punchline, if anyone’s going to have the last word it will be her, granted she will also have the first and second.
The highlight of the night however: and I am still on the fence with this as it is a story of epic proportions but also fall’s into the car crash category. Three quarters of the act in, Jordan gets her audience settled as she pulls out her red binder (should have realised then that it was a bold red flag) The story that is read from said binder is an erotic saga that involves dinosaur porn, time traveling political figures, spaceships, romantic gestures and the most wonderful musical twist that will forever live rent free in my mind. This section of the night received most of the audience’s reactions. Some where laughing, some were crying, some where crying with laughter, some were heaving, some were shocked, I myself was even a little terrified… but honestly it was so much fun.
The Fool at times can seem a little frayed at the edges but if your happy to sit back and just enjoy the comedic journey from A to B and not fixate on how or why you get there, you will be in for such a treat, just know that this is Jordan’s world and we are lucky enough to be welcomed into it. Jordan is someone who I believe lives out loud, proud and without regrets, she’s honest (haha maybe at times too honest) but without a doubt she will leave you entertained and with a smile on your face and a song of hers stuck in rotation in your brain. Jordan I will happily be at any game night your running, I will bring a pile of interesting crap, try on your etsy hat collection and even listen to your disturbing prehistoric porn prose (just not before bed cause they are terrifying).
