Now, seriously, I'm not usually one to rave about sketch comedy (you can ask anyone in Single Entendre) and, after seeing several shows from these insane motherfuckers, I have to be humbly honest here: Behind The 8-Ball is by far the best collection of sketch writing and comedy acting I've seen from any incarnation of this troupe.
Their characters are easily accessible without the vapidity one comes to expect from sketch (unless that's what their goal is with a particular character, in which case, it works perfectly). The writing, which has in the past had a habit of relying on inside jokes and formulaic simile, has grown (I won't say 'matured') into an eclectic intellectual wrestling match that slams you to the mat one minute with cleverly crafted political satire, then twists your nipple with what might appear at first to be an extraneous bombardment of sophomoric ejaculations (although sometimes that's all it's meant to be) but can pivot unexpectedly into a punchline that leaves you groaning, not only at the raunch, but at the irreverence and talent with which the lines are delivered.
I won't bother displaying the almost unavoidable nepotism I'm subject to by raving about the acting skills of what are essentially some of the best friends in my life (including my wife!) but it should suffice to say that you're talking about a group of performers and actors who have had a variety of theatrical experiences between them to make their presence on that stage occupy more than just the empty space. Every body up on that stage is giving you something to look and laugh at, whether it's a deadpan grimace, a slapstick maneuver rivaling the vaudevillian masters, a hairy bleeding knee under a short skirt, or a body as hot as the surface of the sun (including my wife!).
So I guess what I'm saying is, if you want to spend an evening laughing your ass off, you should go see the show. This weekend is it. After this they're onto another project, which, although surely destined to be another gut-splitter, isn't what they're performing now, which, in my opinion, is the funniest sketch comedy show I've ever seen.
Their characters are easily accessible without the vapidity one comes to expect from sketch (unless that's what their goal is with a particular character, in which case, it works perfectly). The writing, which has in the past had a habit of relying on inside jokes and formulaic simile, has grown (I won't say 'matured') into an eclectic intellectual wrestling match that slams you to the mat one minute with cleverly crafted political satire, then twists your nipple with what might appear at first to be an extraneous bombardment of sophomoric ejaculations (although sometimes that's all it's meant to be) but can pivot unexpectedly into a punchline that leaves you groaning, not only at the raunch, but at the irreverence and talent with which the lines are delivered.
I won't bother displaying the almost unavoidable nepotism I'm subject to by raving about the acting skills of what are essentially some of the best friends in my life (including my wife!) but it should suffice to say that you're talking about a group of performers and actors who have had a variety of theatrical experiences between them to make their presence on that stage occupy more than just the empty space. Every body up on that stage is giving you something to look and laugh at, whether it's a deadpan grimace, a slapstick maneuver rivaling the vaudevillian masters, a hairy bleeding knee under a short skirt, or a body as hot as the surface of the sun (including my wife!).
So I guess what I'm saying is, if you want to spend an evening laughing your ass off, you should go see the show. This weekend is it. After this they're onto another project, which, although surely destined to be another gut-splitter, isn't what they're performing now, which, in my opinion, is the funniest sketch comedy show I've ever seen.
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SF Bay Area
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