Sketch-22 Season 5 Guardian Review

7/23/2008

Sketch-22 "funnier than ever" as it continues to poke fun at Islanders Even Sketch-22 is celebrating the l00th anniversary of Anne of Green Gables. The irreverent Island sketch comedy troupe takes inspiration from the venerable story in three of its new sketches this year. And although the singing and dancing aren't quite on par with what you see on the Confederation Centre stage, the comedic value is quite a bit higher. Sketch-22's new show opens with a sketch called Len With a "Nie." Their new member, Lennie MacPherson, tries to convince the troupe to let him audition for them. I won't give away the rest of the sketch, but I will say it was a perfect opening sketch, and I was laughing through all of it. And I kept laughing for most of the next two hours. Highlights include a parody of the Apple Auto Glass commercial for a remote control car starter, the Island's annual smelling bee, and the trailer for an exciting new movie called Trans Anne. MacPherson joins Sketch- 22 veterans Dennis Trainor, Rob MacDonald, Andrew Sprague and Graham Putnam in a well-designed and highly entertaining evening of comedy. Rob MacDonald directs the show, and Jason Rogerson is the producer. The five actors all have their own strengths and know how to playoff each other. They're all great at physical comedy, particularly Dennis Trainor, who can perfectly contort: his body and face into a: hobbling old man or a tarty woman. MacPherson is the perfect addition to the group: He plays the quiet straight man characters, a perfect foil to the others' wacky roles. I've seen Sketch-22 the past three summers, and I think with this show they've returned to the high quality they produced in their second season. They just weren't as funny the past two years, but this year they're back at the top of their game. They're still pushing the envelope, but they've also developed some thought provoking material. During the few sketches that didn't make me laugh out loud as much, I was admiring the immense talent of these actors, and the originality of the scenes on stage. Sketch-22 is great at creating awkward moments where you're not sure if you're supposed to laugh or not. It may be strange to say after watching a comedy show, but I appreciated the serious moments scattered between the laughter. And while there's still plenty of raunchy material, it's not always the main focus. One of the funniest sketches was Pavlov's Audience. in which Rob MacDonald and Graham Putnam brilliantly play two Russian men, a "standing-up comic entertainer" and his brother. Another highly original sketch was a parody of the Wild Kingdom nature series, featuring the wild sandwich. And in La Tragedia del Castrato, a successful opera singer laments his missing parts in clever rhyming verse. One of the best things about the show is the way it alternates between live action and video sketches. The sketches on stage are more spontaneous, but the videos can create comic situations that would be impossible in real life, such as Graham Putnam running wildly through Charlottetown and knocking people over, to the song Who Let the Dogs Out. The true comedy has always been the parody of Islanders and Island life. It's still close to the surface in this year's show, and funnier than ever.