Orlando Fringe 2025
Escape From Planet Earth
Let's Get Weird Productions
Genre: character comedy, Comedy, LGBTQIA+, Political, Satire, Sketch Comedy
Venue: Brown
Festival: Orlando Fringe
Low Down
SNL meets The Onion in this biting satire against the people who make Earth hell for us all.
Review
We’ve all longed to escape from Earth. Frankly, it’s a bit sh*t right now. Let’s Get Weird Production’s Escape From Planet Earth seeks to dissect that sentiment and get to the root of what is so bad about this planet we call home. The answer is an obvious one: the ignorant and hateful people who make our lives hell. Escape From Planet Earth is political satire rife with absurd characters, weird bits, and an important political message.
Dr. Melanie Stickuperaas, with an accent reminiscent of Rachel Dratch’s “Rural Juror”, takes us on a spiraling journey from Earth at large to focusing on the real reasons for our hatred of Earth. On our chaotic documentary-esque adventure, we meet God (who appears as a 27-something bisexual), an ethereal Canadian goose, and Republican State Senator Reginald Chompington 86th amongst a host of other characters. The show is sketch comedy, moving from bit to bit.
Escape From Planet Earth is not perfect. The show is SNL meets The Onion. Like the Onion, it’s biting satire that is as unapologetic and courageous as can be. Using humor, the performers showcase wit and a cutting satirical edge. Like SNL, while often funny, it can be hit or miss. When it lands, like it did with the Canadian hunters, it flies across the border. When it misses, it undercuts itself. Some of the bits ran on for too long. The script could have used some further editing to get some punchlines to land and imbue as much humor as possible throughout. The messaging of the show is heavy-handed and gets preachy towards the end.
All that said, in our political environment, this is daring work. I will admit that describing it as “preachy” feels disingenuous because of the necessity of the messaging happening in this work. Could they have been more subtle? Yes. But in our political day and age there is no room for subtlety. Escape From Planet Earth is unapologetically loud against conservatism, fascism, and the rich weirdoes running our country. The performers are putting themselves out there to make a difference. That alone makes the show worth watching. In an age of fringe censorship in Florida, Escape From Planet Earth is a giant middle finger. As they say at the end of the show, there are ignorant, hateful people making the planet not worth living on. It’s time we give them a little taste of hell and fight back.
