Despite a promising synopsis — two famous gaming villains exchange discourse in a dingy, back alley bar — Nerdgasm, a project by Blernshaw Comedy, lacks the potential comedic flavour that it had to offer. Presented by comedians Avi Bernshaw and Luke Blesser and supported by Of Science & Swords and Critical Hit, the show is a conflation of ego and conceit that only a very hospitable audience could appreciate.

Bleeser portrays Pokémon villain Gary Oak (Ash’s arch-nemesis), who brings a collection of superfluous smartalecky remarks, with jokes ranging from the similarity of Pokémon training and animal abuse to insensitive homophobic ‘jokes’ that are only funny the first time. The Street Fighter villain Master Bison is given voice through the elusive Bernshaw, who manages to appear somewhat modest in comparison to Gary’s gargantuan ego.

Nerdgasm opens in a debauch bar fixed with a backdrop of 16-bit images of Mario mushrooms, potions and elixirs, and screams ‘video-gaming’ down to the wooden beer mugs positioned on the table. We’re introduced to Gary and Bison who are the product of the thought: “What happens to the super villains when they’re defeated?”

Thanks to a series of (mostly) poorly played jokes Nerdgasm can only be appreciated by the hardcore gamer. Nerdgasm does not deliver on its promises of science puns, Doctor Who references, or even a Black Books allusion; nor does it play upon the widely known tropes of gaming, film and television. Rather it wallows, like its characters, in a selection of specific memes reflective of Blernshaw Comedy’s target audience.

The pair’s dance between reality and illusion — mostly provided by Bison, the cannier of the pair — has to be given kudos. Gary manages to have his moments as he conflates his Pokémon with real-world animals, but Bison carries this topic, contributing intelligence to the script through remarks about the unrealistic expectations gaming can place on reality. However, before the pair can delve into something more interesting, Gary intrudes with his bumptious remarks, pulling Nerdgasm backto the banality of repetitive jokes previously established. There’s no development, and this destroys any potential in the performance.

One would assume with previous support from the Melbourne Anime Festival that Nerdgasm would at least be mildly entertaining, but it’s not. The show could have been much more if Bison’s postulations were not continuously stunted by Gary’s insolence and facetiousness, but in the end, it becomes a performance about one canny man and one depressed man at a bar, interspersed with jokes that died too long ago.

Nerdgasm’s run at the Fringe Festival has finished. More information on future Blernshaw Comedy projects can be found at their website.