Ben Macpherson Does Poems at Adults Review

Unfussy format fired up a brilliant live poetry jukebox 

This show has a simple premise: ‘audience member chooses numbered card bearing intriguing pair of words which link to poem.  Poet performs chosen poem. Repeat until allotted time is up.’ Yet somehow, with Ben Macpherson as creative powerhouse and genial host, this unfussy format fired up a brilliant live poetry jukebox that had every audience-member itching to make their choice.  

Who could fail to be tempted by ‘visceral breakfast,’ ‘prayer dysmorphia’ or ‘folklore bedtime’?  They may sound like randomly-generated alternative band-names, but each proved instead to be a pass to Ben’s eclectic, eccentric (and sometimes bonkers) catalogue of thoughts and words. In an hour of wildly unpredictable selections, we flitted through subjects as diverse as a poetic zombie apocalypse, ambitious over-ordering of condoms, the need to fight back against dull English-teaching, and the desperation of the aspiring wine connoisseur. There was much cheerful rhythmic rhyme in (self-confessed) plummy tones, with the occasional ‘lest’ and ‘alas’ thrown in – which, for me at least, created a flashback to Penelope Keith reading ‘Dilys the Dachshund’ in a Captain Beaky TV special sometime around 1980.

However, Ben Macpherson’s poetry does not stop there. His range extends far beyond lightweight, playful rhyme and rhythm into territory far more intellectually challenging and, perhaps, satisfying. He is not afraid to explore the emotional darkness or to confront death, prejudice and self-doubt, and he does so with immense technical skill – not least in the univocal saga of Tom and Otto, which raises the issue of blood-donation being closed to gay men, and the tragic consequences that this can bring about. 

The juke-box-generated combination of serious and silly poems could be tricky to pull off, but the audience response suggested that the Qattery crowd was fully and joyfully behind it. What is clear is that Ben Macpherson himself defies any simplistic classification. Comic poet, chatty host, intellectual, serious commentator on the issues of the day, at once confident and vulnerable; he is a deft poetic shape-shifter as well as a tremendous entertainer. His show is wholeheartedly recommended.