Assume People Like You, Melon the Human and Cluster Arts
The Parlour, Perth Cultural Centre, 22 January 2023

In a miniature big top, Melon the Human, a one-time Cirque de Soleil performer and now first-time Perth Fringer, creates an amusing, quirky and barmy world. In Assume People Like You he displays an astounding talent whilst pondering the question of how one makes friends.

His first asset is charm and a self-effacing sweet naivety, which, with his staring, kohl-rimmed eyes and slim stature make him seem a reincarnation of Charlie Chaplin; both awkward, rubber limbed and much more in command than he appears.

Then there’s his ability to hold an audience with his conversational witticisms whilst nonchalantly manipulating floating glass balls, a broom and a huge cube. That’s not to mention contorting his body in odd ways, making the sinews in his back and arms ripple as though an octopus were crawling under his skin and later, raising himself from the splits by his legs alone. Wow, that’s what you call toned!

Flashing spotlights and a varied soundscape enhance each act. Especially captivating is a French chanteuse accompanying his dance – a broom adorned to imitate a curly haired woman in a dark red dress. That broom, once unadorned, he manipulates to slither around his body like a rigid white snake.

There were a couple of children in the audience whose eyes were wide in appreciation of Melon’s dexterity and imagination, especially as a stiff robot clanking his way around the stage.

Empathy from all directions was offered as he sat, friendless and alone, with a small picnic basket on a red throw. That same throw is used later to surprise – so, here’s a tip, bring some small change.

After many disparate delights, the highlight comes at the end, when Melon manipulates a huge see-through steel cube above his head. Affected by different lighting and his incredibly flexible hands it seems to shimmer and glisten like a diamond in the sky, loose and alone, twirling through the atmosphere.

By creating small tense dramas which startle the senses and move from the potentially catastrophic to burlesque, Melon enchants his audience so intently he doesn’t have to assume they like him.

They love him.

Pictured top: Melon the Human sits friendless and alone at a picnic for one. Photo: Mark Robson

Assume Someone Likes You runs to 5 February 2023 at The Parlour.