EdFringe Review: Sammy J: Hero Complex

In what must be one of the most polished, accomplished shows of this year’s Fringe, Sammy J has quite the story to tell you in Hero Complex. Bringing more than a little of the magician’s patter to this tightly constructed show, Sammy begins the performance with a mystery.

Why did a federal policeman come to his door one fateful day, and precisely what did Sammy J have stashed in his attic?

To find out the answer, well, you know the score — and so does Sammy J, who sprinkles just the right number of comic ditties into proceedings, taking us back in time and space to the high school where this crime drama began, so we can follow his personal and professional story through to its dramatic climax. Trust me, don’t Google before you go, just go and delight in this wonderful proof of life being stranger than fiction.

Archival Evidence and Personal Lore

It’s just such an unlikely show; only made possible by the self-confessed ‘nerdy’ Sammy J’s lifelong habit of self-documentation, via video and artefact collection. Teenage Sammy J didn’t just befriend the school gardener Duncan; he made a documentary about him. Having bonded over a shared, highly niche passion for The Phantom comics first published by Lee Falk in 1936, it was just one more odd episode in their curiously wholesome relationship.

“In what must be one of the most polished, accomplished shows of this year’s Fringe, Sammy J has quite the story to tell you in Hero Complex.“

But Sammy J doesn’t just have the video—no, he also has diaries. From one he will pluck the immortal clarion call of ‘THINGS ARE HOTTING UP’ which will re-erupt at apt moments, each time garnering a bigger laugh. (It’s about cinema tickets, don’t get the wrong idea, Sammy J was a nice boy!)

In fact, Sammy J has so much ‘stuff’ stored from his yesteryears that it would be easy for this show to be overstuffed. Instead, he carefully deploys these riches, gilding his story, rather than letting them overrun it. In a Fringe rightfully packed with fresh acts finding their feet, Sammy J is operating at the other end of the spectrum. His delivery is warm and assured; everything from sound and lighting effects to his segues into a musical number is on point.

Talking of those musical numbers, I wouldn’t call them memorable so much as delightful, and deftly executed. He has the knack for witty lyrics, and whether he’s talking to his younger self and realising it wouldn’t go well, or serenading child-free friends with a promise to see them in 17 years, he is consistently entertaining. In both music and spoken word, he blends such a winning mix of self-deprecating humour, wide-eyed amazement, and more mature observation; the laughs come consistently. I have the distinct impression that Sammy J knows he could pack more punchlines in, but has enough experience not to push the story aside just to get more cackles.

Instead, he leans into the natural humour packed into his personal history, whether it’s somewhat accidentally attending a UN Youth Conference as the representative for Ukraine and forming ‘diplomatic’ ties with the pretty delegate for Panama, or his apparent inability to escape the shadow of that youthful friendship with Duncan; he has anecdotes for days. Being such a talented raconteur, the results are always going to be a treat. We share his gentle excruciation at past diary entries, cackle at some choice frames plucked from his comic collection, and wonder at how his story is going to unfold. Hero Complex is a great, unpredictable, and seasoned hour of musical comedy storytelling.