Also this issue: Designer Threads The PMA and the art of installation. -Robin Rice Bryan Willette -Susan Hagen Forbidden Broadway -Debra Auspitz Beauty and the Beast -Debra Auspitz The Consul -David Shengold Paul Taylor Dance Co. -Debra Auspitz John Simpson and Jesse Sheidlower of the OED -Juliet Fletcher Artsbeat -Debra Auspitz

December 5-11, 2002

theater

Wild Stunt Show

by David Anthony Fox

There’s British comedy of the sort Noel Coward wrote, elegant and dry as a martini. There’s the coruscating satire of Joe Orton or Harold Pinter. There’s the oh-so-learned humor of Tom Stoppard.

And then there's another kind of British comedy, where silliness reigns supreme. Monty Python is the best (and best-known) example, but it can get even lower-brow -- think of the breast-ogling antics of Benny Hill.

I suspect more Americans love the latter stuff than will admit to it. Video reissues of Python and Hill fly off the shelves, and there are websites devoted to the shows that include downloadable sound files of every favorite, uh, bon mot. Go on, 'fess up -- you might pretend to love Pinter, but don't you really prefer a pants-dropping good time?

If you do (and you know who you are), Wild Stunt Show is the show for you.

The Madhouse Company of London has been around since 1972, and the group was clearly formed in the image of some of its famous predecessors. The "Wild Man of Borneo" who greets audience members (and is especially cheeky with attractive females) is directly in the Hill tradition. The notion of Wild Stunt plays on Monty Python's Flying Circus.

But much of what Madhouse does is truly original -- or, at least, takes hoary old gags that haven't lost their charm and plies them in a new way. The conceit is simple and paper thin -- an evening's entertainment involving skits, magic tricks, music (by a fabulous two-man band that manages everything from African drums to xylophone) and a considerable amount of audience participation. "Oscar Oswald," a John-Cleese-like autocrat, emcees the show. His two partners in crime are goofball "Hamlet McWallbanger" and jack-of-all-trades-and-accents "Marcel LaToosh." Individually and together, they are immensely engaging, funny fellows.

Frankly, it took me a few minutes to warm to the Madhouse charms. But by the time I was running through a Philadelphia alley, or doing knee bends in the park (don't ask), I was loving every minute of it -- and the rest of the hysterical audience clearly agreed.

Be forewarned -- much of the humor is scatological and/or phallic. (Really, what else is as funny?) And there's some nudity. Now you know. Don't give it a second thought -- just give in to the joys of the Wild Stunt Show. As I said, it's not Noel Coward. You'll know this by the time hot dogs come flying through the audience (if you haven't figured it out already). But it is a rollicking good time.