Joe Sellman-Leava’s Fanboy is a delicate but entertaining take a look at fandom at VAULT Festival
“I was just a boy, I just liked what I liked wholeheartedly”
The rise of the nerd has been an attention-grabbing one to trace over the a long time. Long an object of derision, the start of the web and the explosive success of giant franchises like Marvel have thrust them firmly into the mainstream and that has had a significant impression, explored at each the micro- and macro- stage in Joe Sellman-Leava’s delicate but entertaining one-man-show Fanboy.
From the Nintendo video games console nonetheless in its field in order that the plastic doesn’t change color to the lightsaber tucked into his dressing robe, it’s clear that Joe is absolutely embracing his nerd nature. But it wasn’t all the time that manner and as he spots an previous VHS from his eighth celebration, reminiscent of a time when he’d not even been launched to Star Wars but, we get to see that journey with perspective.
There’s actual pleasure to find one thing you like, and sharing it with others who adore it too, and Sellman-Leava conveys that fantastically, via the connection it constructed with favorite uncles and shut buddies. But it may possibly simply toxify into one thing obsessive too and within the latter case notably, there’s a strong evocation of simply how twisted and darkish these ideas can turn into, shaping each private relationships and hyperlinks with the skin world, even because it all turns to shit (the Brexit as melted ice-cream analogy is genius!).
Director Yaz Al-Shaater performs successfully with gentle and shade of Fanboy, Dylan Howells’ technical design permitting for sudden however sensible intergenerational interaction. And Sellman-Leava’s present for spectacular impressions permits for actual humour to interrupt via at key moments, alongside his enduring love for The Muppet’s Christmas Carol. (#justiceforWhenLoveIsGone)