Brighton Fringe 2017
Low Down
This is an hour of absurdist comedy based around an engaging story. “Join psychic shaman Mountain and his trusty apprentice Soil on a trans-dimensional journey in search of Soil’s lost voice. Follow the spiritualist duo as they meet demons, gods and the Galactic Janitor in the ultimate journey to enlightenment.
Review
Sami and Jim are Gaulier-trained clowns, but this is no silent comedy. Here we have an hour that takes us on the journey to enlightenment. Through using spirituality as a source of physical and vocal comedy material, they maintain a skilled level of respect for that very theme.. They do not plunde the realm of the new age and spirituality, they draw upon and use it as the basis for a narrative that engages and feels satisfying at the end. Here comedy meets story, clown meets dialogue, music meets physical theatre. There’s a lot of variety here, but its laughter that emerges from the synergy, laughter aplenty.
Two characters, Mountain and Soil. aided by a e than able comedy keyboardist who is both part of, and aloof from the story, form the basis of the piece. “Mountain” is a Shaman and sets “Soil” three tasks to becoming a shaman himself. I’ll say no more on the story. This becomes an opportunity for vocal and sight gags, plenty of sound and physical comedy, all delivered with a punch, you could see this show twice and pick up plenty of laughs and whoops of delight the second time round that you missed the first time round.
Goonish to the core, there is also much wit, audience banter, the fourth wall comes crashing down in places though never fully vanishes as we become onlookers and occasional participants in a story that is the essential means for three fine performers to show us what they can do. And what they can do is range physical comedy, clown, theatre of the absurb, and plain old one-liners and payoffs, to consistent and often hilarious effect.
In places vocal and sound clarity could be clarified a little. Occasionally the comedy overburdens the narrative and there’s scope to explore the balance here between story and comedic opportunity. These are minor quibbles in a show well worth seeing. A hidden gem on the Fringe.
