Db magazine

God has decided to end the world, and after making this known to the whole population she decides that rather than come up with any ideas about mankind's replacement for a new creation herself, she'd run a competition asking for us doomed mortals to write in with any suggestions. The winner, Emily Winkins from New Zealand, who for reasons explained during the introduction, is from hereon known as Alice and is now, along with two strangers and Errol the bird, running to escape from her mum and a flock of evil sheep. Along the way they are fighting off flame throwing Great Spirits as they make their way to Hollywood.

Uber Alice is as enticing and as bizarre as the title and plot proposes, and with a few twists of a plain white t-shirt, a plastic whistle, a packet of biscuits and couple of chairs, some paper cut outs and a slide projector, Jonno Katz manically brings to life Emily/Alice's vision of a brave new, chaos filled world. The result is a story that's so over the top, deliberately confusing and physically and mentally so hard to keep up with because of the constant twists and turns, you can't help but become drawn in by it all. You literally have to restrain your own laughter in order not to miss any of the rapid fire one liners and puns.

Looking around the audience during this performance they, like myself, appeared to be mesmerised by both Katz's boundless energy and totally immersed by his amiable ever-imaginative sense of being. Uber Alice is equally deft as it is daft, making it without doubt one of the most intelligently devised, yet silliest and absolute funniest hours you're likely to take in all Fringe.

-Steve Jones

The Advertiser

Darkness encapsulating – the scene is set. A bright fire burns, for a story is about to be told. One of love and war, of God (or Goddess in this case), earth and creation. The plot is ... well, does it matter that a plot seems to make next to no sense?
In this case, it does not.
The audience is too hypnotised by the dizzy display before them to realise the distinct absurdity of it all. The performance is by a one-man wonder, pulling off half a dozen offbeat characters in a mix off unscripted nonsense and audience participation. It is his vividly expressive face, sprightly disposition and exuberant energy that make this show one to see.

- Rhiannon Hoyle

On Dit

If you are in the mood for an evening of hilarity you can't go past this eccentric offering. Complete with props, voiceovers, a surprising soundtrack and a smoking-jacket-and-Kingston-biscuit-interlude, this fringe adventure will not disappoint. Uber Alice is in essene a succinct, sensual and strange creation story, requested by a supreme deity and performed by one man. The show includes a daring mix of dance, puppetry, general absurdity and a top class New Zealand accent. The interactive Uber Alice is buckets of fun and frivolity, culminating in a raucous group climax. Go and see Uber Alice at the nearest oppurtunity. It is so hilarious that we advise that if you choose to see it with a full bladder, you do so at your own risk.

- JK

Rip It Up

From simple manicurist to New Zealand God Uber Alice (Uber is German for big or mighty), this bizarre one-person all-encompasiing epic piece of physical stage art is nothing quite like anything else you'll see at the fringe. It's silly, entertaining, strange and funny - and the biscuit break was a very nice touch.

- Catherine Blanch

Entropy

What makes this one-man play work is the pure enthusiasm of the actor, Jonno, a ridiculous kiwi accent and the energy he takes from the audience. This, combined with the extremely minimalistic style (he asks you to imagine a theatrical break behind which he changes from one character to another by simply putting on his headband and tying his t-shirt) makes it verge on the childish productions you would put on for people when you were none. He adds some odd touches, like stopping in the middle of the play for a slide show or to bring out a diagram describing the scene and action. In the interval he sits on stage and eats chocolate biscuits in front of the audience, before passing them around.
The night I went the audience were really into it and had a great repetoire with him, one woman even telling him that he looked "pregnant" when he played Alice. The audience participation sex scene was the funniest thing I have experienced in a theatre.
The plotline is ridiculous, with some strange characters and plot turns and a sublimely silly ending, but it all adds to the charm of what is a really funny and disarming show.

- Samantha Ryan

Adelaide Theatre Guide (online)

When asked to describe this show, the first words that come to mind are "interesting", "strange" and "different". Uber Alice is a one-man show presented by Jonathan Katz, and takes us through a new "story of creation", based on Alice, a New Zealand manicurist.

After a brief introduction to the storyline, Katz starts the show by inviting the audience to participate as much as possible, but unfortunately does not seem to be able to control this participation as the show progresses… There were too many interruptions from an overly enthusiastic audience to give each scene the necessary continuity that was required and to keep the level of humour up.

Over the course of the show Katz presents multiple characters and attempts at various levels of comedy through physical acts and strange voices. With a slight adjustment of his shirt and headband he transforms from male characters to "Alice" and back again. But after a while this becomes tedious - luckily the show only goes for about an hour!

All in all, Uber Alice is definitely "different" and Katz's antics just might tickle your funny bone. Some audience members definitely enjoyed it, so you never know - you might too.

- Nikki Gaertner

Internet Review

A bizarre tale of the creation of a new creation story. This show is twisted, inventive, hilarious and tremendously silly. He had the audience in the palm of his hand, pushing us to new levels of silliness ourselves and losing plot threads all over the place. Brilliant, if a little bit of a headf***.

- Tomas Ford