Con Coutis – Escape from Heck Island

Con Coutis is doing something truly special with his comedy. Escape From Heck Island is 30% stand-up, 70% a sound-effect-filled satire of prison-break movies, and 100% a good time. Coutis eases the audience in with a stage-presence that’s affable and charming, before the plot kicks in and he launches us into a decisively successful comedy play. A large part of Coutis’ charm is his ability to bring the audience right along with him: his crowd-work is quick and deliberate, and his jokes are clever. 

Importantly, it’s impossible to talk about Coutis’ work without mentioning the sound design and acknowledging the massive role the tech team play in making this show what it is. There’s truly a sound effect for everything, and it makes the action feel real.  Coutis and his tech team also manage to pull off some genuinely awe-inspiring feats of live sound mixing. This is where Coutis’ comedy really manages to transcend into something that’s a bit genre-defying and a lot special. This show feels like Con Coutis settling into his style. Escape From Heck Island is definitely a must-see at this year’s Comedy Festival, and we should all be excited to see what Con Coutis does next.