Pepper+Salt: Review - After Endgame
★★★★ Kevin James Doyle’s After Endgame is a humorous storytelling show, where he centers a personal anecdote from which all his tangents and chess lessons spring from (as well as some insight into statistics).
This show occurs in a 3 act structure; not only in the way of a chess-game, but also that of a play or TV show. Doyle is a great storyteller, weaving segues and anecdotes about chess into his main throughline, setting up and giving us all the information that we need to put the pieces together for ourselves. We are lulled into a sense of security by Doyle, as he paints a scenario that seems almost mundane but without giving the way the game, which goes to show how much control he has not only his delivery but also his poker face. He just talks to us in a controlled rhythm whilst delivering punchline after punchline, enough for us to be able to process information but not enough to fully pick up on all of his breadcrumbs. There’s a certain logic and structure to the entire hour that is insanely clever, in that his call-backs aren’t obvious or flagged in any way, it’s for us to pay attention and pick up on only when he wants us to see the game. It’s a comedy show structured like a chess game, it’s absolutely brilliant.
It’s a fun show to watch and be a part of. There are interactive moments to it where Doyle’s teaching side comes out and gives us a chance to learn by doing. Everything has a purpose in this show, it’s so tightly knit together that it wouldn’t be possible to find a superfluous thought or thread within it. Everything is written in a way that drives the point home without leaving anything over or extra.
As much as this is a funny hour filled with jokes that pave this road down the rabbit hole that we obliviously travel down with Doyle re-living his experience, we also learn something and we do leave with a much greater appreciation for chess and its lessons than The Queen’s Gambit will have ever given us. Not only does this hour showcase Doyle’s talent as a comedian but his ability to make statistics fun.
