Presented by Changing Jennifers
Reviewed 5 June 2014
One of the harder skills of acting is improvisation. Although the term basically means ‘making it up as you go along’, one needs to have an alert mind, be able to think fast, have a great imagination, a good sense of humour, and a sense of teamwork – one must never ‘block’ another actor’s conversation, thus leaving them in the lurch (e.g. saying “yes”, “no”, “maybe” or “I don’t know” when asked a question).
There are many excellent performers of improv, mainly from overseas: the cast of Whose Line Is It? and Adelaide Fringe’s favourite Americans, Sound and Fury; to name only two. Adelaide also has its very own masters of making it up however, in Eden Trebilco, Dan Hamilton, Phill Cowie and Sam Calleja, otherwise known as Changing Jennifers (soon to change its name to Improv Adelaide).
These guys make a fabulous team, flinging around hilarious one-liners, developing crazy characters and delivering very funny, outrageous accents. They also staff their own ticket box and work the sound!
This fantastic four make life even harder for themselves by performing their whole hour show based solely on a title given by an audience member on the night, guaranteeing that no two shows are ever the same. On the night reviewed three titles from the audience were shortlisted: The Lone Tribesman Of The El Paso Plains, The Book With No Pages, and The Chronicles Of The Cat Whisperer.
After witnessing an improvised scene from all three titles, the audience voted with the latter title being chosen. There followed an improvised story of Broadway in the 1950s, a hero affectionately (or not so) named Pussy Boy, a cameo appearance from Batman, prostitutes and theatre critics (and no, they are NOT one and the same thing), and some very wacky, convoluted plot lines.
Although not strictly cabaret, this is the sort of lunacy and silliness that one needs every now and then and these boys carry it off with panache.
Frivolity and fun, thy name is (currently) Changing Jennifers!
Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
Twitter: @briangods
Venue: La Boheme 36 Grote Street, Adelaide
Season: 5 – 26 June 2014
Duration: 1 hour
Tickets: $10.00 – $15.00
Bookings: Book through the Cabaret Fringe Festival online or tickets at the door if not sold out.
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