Note-This is more than a week late, I saw the show on the 29th September! I've been ill and the joys of UCAS have been dominating most of my thinking. But regularly posting should be back on track
Based on the television show created by Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller, Armstrong & Miller Live takes the most popular sketches and recreates them onstage.
The sketch with the greatest stage time is the hugely popular WW2 pilot sketch. Whilst that was probably the most amusing sketch, as it is no doubt the most popular, a number of other sketches made the transition well onto stage. These included ‘The Origins Of’ and a rude Victorian cabaret act, both of which moved almost seamlessly onto stage. Some sketches even improved with the transition from stage to screen, particularly the organic shop women.
There were also moments of audience involvement, with sketches altered in order to have audience participation. The funniest thing being that the audience knew the characters in the sketches, and thus felt immediately sorry for the audience member(s), especially in the dentist scene. This could also be a downside, the familiarity with some sketches meant that even Armstrong and Miller themselves often got the giggles during the sketch.
Moments of surprise are still had however, with numerous musical numbers providing ample entertainment and show both Armstrong and Miller to have amazing voices. The use of video screens during set and costume changes were also amusing, with a 1970s style guide to how to act in the theatre and a World of Warcraft-esque computer game.
A special mention must also go to Katherine Jakeaways, who is ‘the entire supporting cast’ and who plays two roles in one scene ingeniously, with a double-sided costume and two different accents.
I loved the evening, it was my first time seeing comedy live (I have Chris Addison to look forward to) and it was hugely entertaining.
(Armstrong & Miller will next be seen in Stoke, Tunbridge Wells, Eastbourne, Brighton and Milton Keynes. More information here)
The sketch with the greatest stage time is the hugely popular WW2 pilot sketch. Whilst that was probably the most amusing sketch, as it is no doubt the most popular, a number of other sketches made the transition well onto stage. These included ‘The Origins Of’ and a rude Victorian cabaret act, both of which moved almost seamlessly onto stage. Some sketches even improved with the transition from stage to screen, particularly the organic shop women.
There were also moments of audience involvement, with sketches altered in order to have audience participation. The funniest thing being that the audience knew the characters in the sketches, and thus felt immediately sorry for the audience member(s), especially in the dentist scene. This could also be a downside, the familiarity with some sketches meant that even Armstrong and Miller themselves often got the giggles during the sketch.
Moments of surprise are still had however, with numerous musical numbers providing ample entertainment and show both Armstrong and Miller to have amazing voices. The use of video screens during set and costume changes were also amusing, with a 1970s style guide to how to act in the theatre and a World of Warcraft-esque computer game.
A special mention must also go to Katherine Jakeaways, who is ‘the entire supporting cast’ and who plays two roles in one scene ingeniously, with a double-sided costume and two different accents.
I loved the evening, it was my first time seeing comedy live (I have Chris Addison to look forward to) and it was hugely entertaining.
(Armstrong & Miller will next be seen in Stoke, Tunbridge Wells, Eastbourne, Brighton and Milton Keynes. More information here)
No comments:
Post a Comment