Day 1 -- 5:30 p.m. Time Slot

Show: Comedy Go!

Company: Ferrari McSpeedy Theatrical Productions

Venue: UofM Rarig Center Thrust Stage

Die Roll: 14


A few years ago now, I was introduced to Ferrari McSpeedy through their show Punk Rock Awesome!, the last show of their "Punk Rock Trilogy". It still remains one of the best shows I've seen at the Fringe ever.

So, starting the Fringe with a show by this comedic duo was exciting.

Long-form improv can be hit-and-miss, and this show was that. However, there were far more hits than misses. I enjoyed the fact that they basically stuck to the Harold format. It was a well done and well executed improv set. They played to the truth and reached the comedy. The callbacks were always appropriate and sometimes brilliant.

That being said, I liked their scripted work better. I've also preferred their imrov work better at other times. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps they've set the bar really high for themselves trhough their past work. Or, more likely, as I learned back when I was doing the Theatre Manager thing at the Brave New Workshop (many, many years ago), not every Harold is brilliant. Not every set is comedy gold.

This show was Comedy Silver. It was wonderful on so many levels. As a student and fan of improvisational theatre, it was fascinating and impressive to me. Two guys thinking quickly, performing whatever comes into their heads, and doingit in a way that shows that they trust each other implicitly... great! Just with fewer laughs than one might normally expect.

Now, the bid "however": When improv is really done well, the comedy develops naturally, and that means that sometimes the scenes can be touching, or serious, or whatever, rather than funny, when they head that way. And that's part of the beauty of it. Playing to the truth and the height of their intelligence is something that these two do well.

I would go see another performance of this show in an instant. It will be a different show each time. So, this one wasn't the barrel of laughs that it could've been. It was enjoyable. It was an accomplishment. It was worth the money that most people in the audience paid to see it. And there's a good chance that the next performance clicks that little bit better that will make "Comedy Go!" into comedy gold.

Ten Word Summary: Fotis and Bozic do Harold. Truth, beauty, and laughs result.

Rating: d12 - "A Heckuva Lotta Fun"