On Sunday January 30th, I went to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company at Payne Theatre. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at a theatre performance. They set it up like an ESPN-type broadcast but it was incredibly dynamic and the physical comedy was awesome. The cast was 3 guys, all 3 are actors and one went to clown college. He was fantastic. Their goal was to get through every sport from 9 different categories from all 7 continents throughout history with it all ending in an “Olympish” event.
Along with all the physical comedy including tackling each other in rugby and men’s synchronized swimming, the pop culture references were hysterical. They hit everything from Michael Vick’s jail time to Brett Favre’s text messaging to Tiger Woods’ not-so-secret affairs. I definitely had a good laugh at the baseball part where one of the guys fell into a fit of narcolepsy every time someone said “baseball”. They also went into a lot of discussion, arguing about rhythmic gymnastics being a sport, trying to explain the difference between sports and games, and spoofing issues athletes have with their fathers.
The FUNNIEST part of the show was the coach’s halftime speech, given out of a “Coaches’ Cliches Handbook”, including motivational bits like “play like there’s no tomorrow” and “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game” made hilarious with the team’s misunderstandings. I also really enjoyed their reviews of the greatest sports movies, like Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, and A League of Their Own (oddly enough, all baseball movies …). Kevin Costner hearing voices and seeing ghosts of dead baseball players, telling him to build a field in his backyard, and then getting to play catch with his dead father was made hilarious by these 3 talented performers.
If you get a chance to see this wonderful group perform, DO IT. And if you want to participate in the “Olympish” games, sit in the aisles. ☺
-Lauren Shelton
Hook’em Arts Member and Outreach Chair
