The Bob Ross Effect stars Sarah-Louise Young as the titular character who, as she explains, is still inescapable on US television over thirty years since his death. His PBS show, ‘The Joy of Painting,’ ran for 11 years and was characterised by his catchphrase ‘we don’t make mistakes, we make happy accidents.’
Young starts in a similarly wholesome vein, chatting to audience members and getting one to pass out biscuits. She describes her introduction to Ross when her brother invited her to a livestream of all of his show episodes, and soon starts her own painting in front of us; a camera on a tripod recreates the viewer’s perspective as used by Ross, which is then transmitted onto the projector screen. We have been handed clipboards, paper and crayons on the way in, and she encourages us to collaborate with strangers on a drawing. It’s all very earnest and genuine, and the soaring original songs (composed by Young and Jordan Paul Clarke) only make it more so. She describes with passion the two great artistic presences in her life; artist and performer Lynn Rose Miller and her brother, with animations on the screen accompanying the sections about the latter. There’s a great side-step into more chaos with a tribute song to Miller too, performed with burlesque feather fans.
Things become somewhat surreal with the arrival of torrential rain, which is so loud it became slightly challenging to hear where I was on the back row – even with Young’s radio mic – but she persists on with a smile, with water streaming down the inside of the fire exits either side of the stage. The show has a lot of goals, with all of the different narrative threads and mediums, and occasionally felt slightly crowded. But Young’s talent and panache win out, and the show felt like a gentle paean to rebirth and creativity – arguably Bob Ross’s ultimate message.
The Bob Ross Effect is on at the Piccolo Tent, Assembly George Square Gardens (4.05pm) until the 31st August