By Richard Ades, The Other Paper
Check out the original review here!
It’s been awhile since Shadowbox Live came up with a really classic skit. That’s understandable, as busy as it’s been moving to the Brewery District and expanding its programming to fill the new, bigger space.
This month, though, it makes up for lost time. The new Body Language theme show contains three or four comedy pieces that qualify for classic status.
The evening’s shiniest gem is Long Way Home, starring Julie Klein as a woman driving to meet an old boyfriend, and Jimmy Mak as the voice of her new GPS.
Klein’s facial expressions give away the woman’s misgivings about getting reacquainted with a man who used her and then threw her away. Mak’s semi-mechanical voice makes the GPS one of his best impersonations yet. Meshing perfectly, the two tell a tale that’s both clever and surprisingly affecting.
The second classic, as well as the night’s funniest piece, is Sperm Dating. Betsy Shortt plays “Ova,” a human egg cell who must choose from among the millions of sperms desperately vying for her attention. Her interactions with such flawed suitors as Jock Sperm (Billy DePetro) and Stoner Sperm (Robbie Nance) are amusing, but many of the laughs come from the mere sight of nameless gametes wriggling through this inter-uterine version of a pickup bar.
Similarly inventive is Battle Stations, in which a man (JT Walker III) and woman (Stacie Boord) conduct an argument entirely through the songs they play on the car radio. And similarly funny is The Dog House, a wincingly satirical male take on the war between the sexes. Expect the biggest laughs from Stev Guyer as Jackson, a grizzled exile from female companionship who wouldn’t have it any other way.
Almost qualifying for classic status is Unspoken Language, a tale that’s told partly through silent-movie-style subtitles and Chaplin-esque moves. Think of it as a warm-up for this weekend’s new silent flick, The Artist.
The musical portions of the show include “Light My Fire,” “Kiss From a Rose,” “You” and the finale, “Purple Rain,” as the big production numbers. They’re fun, especially the first one, but most suffered from pitchiness and other minor problems during the first weekend’s shows.
Some of the smaller numbers are more satisfying and refined. Especially nice are “I Never Loved a Man,” with Stephanie Shull ably standing in for Aretha Franklin, and “Black Velvet,” tastefully harmonized by Jennifer Hahn and Boord.
But the comedy skits remain the show’s brightest highlights. Even sketches that fall a bit short start with innovative ideas: the wingman as a silver-costumed superhero (The Adventures of Wingman), a soap opera that must be translated into Spanish (Passion Hospital), a girl who serves as a therapist for her troubled dolls (Doll Counseling).
Such creativity, as well as the show’s almost total lack of recurring characters, suggests that Shadowbox is stepping up to the additional challenges of its new home.