No Laughing Matter: Back From the Dead!
Performance Space Orlando
Heinrich Hurtz
“Hey – you got Sketch in my Improv!” “No way, you got Improv all over my Sketch!” This ever happen to you? Well, the two can get on, as long as they both agree to play nice, keep a colon in the title, and not throw spit wads at one another. A taxman’s dozen fastest paced bits filled the family packed PSO, with top comedy honors going to the Urinal Segment. Two actors on prescription strength Improv each creating a line starting with letters ranging from A to Z, describing the all too common situation of two guys duking it out for dibs in the john. Zoiks, it was funny, and you girls will learn why guys don’t go together. And why they check their fly AFTER they leave.
As sketches go, the Boys in the Barber Shop played a long game of slightly mis-heard words, showing the amazing relations that exist between Jackie Gleason, Yogi Bear, and that fuzz butt Jedi master, whose name eludes me at the moment. Are there subliminal messages imbedded here? Boy, I hope so. The 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse thought so, and one of them was already dead.
Other noteworthy events were the Horrors Film Scene repeated as the “Brady Bunch Theme,” a Dr. Seuss children’s tale, and as an opera. The great thing about the opera version ? It was at least as coherent as a real opera, the plot made sense, and it was sung in English. Speaking of singing, Sound of Music achieved full metal deconstruction by a crack team of Austrian Engineers. I think they were crack engineers, anyway, they had vu graphs and slide rules. Does this make sense? No need to – after all, its a show tune! Clever sketch, crisp improv, and let’s hope these fellows Rise from the Dead again soon. After all, not just anyone can get a laugh from the word “Pudenda.” ◼
