MICF: Ben McKenzie is Uncool

There’s no denying it, Ben McKenzie is not what society would call cool. In Ben McKenzie is Uncool he embraces his uncool labels and shows is all just how cool it is to be uncool!

Ben facilitates us on a journey of what it means to be uncool. From being chased and bullied in the schoolyard to writing a cabaret about a mad scientist. The audience helps Ben to decide just what aspects of his incredibly unCOOL persona he’s going to talk about that evening. Ben invites members of the audience to pick cards out of a small deck and then from those cards they get to choose what stories he’ll tell us from his life, which for some reason is considered uncool. It’s a beautiful touch to the show, Ben is already bubbly and excitable but the addition of being unsure just what stories he’s going to be asked to tell inject a charming new energy of nervous excitement into him that you cannot force.

This show convinced me of one thing. I am totally uncool, not that I needed much convincing. More importantly though Ben is, through his comedy, showing us that it is totally alright to be uncool. It might even be kind of cool. So if someone tries to tell me that “Ben McKenzie is Uncool” I’m going to have to agree with them. Because just how uncool he is makes this show one of the most endearing of the festival.

Whether you’re a nerd, geek, square or whatever term the kids are using these days, Ben McKenzie is Uncool will make you feel like the coolest person in the room. Because chances seem to be that Ben McKenzie is the King of Uncool.