Image: Sammy J & Randy, Melbourne International Comedy Festival
It all begins with puppet-cide, the rare incidence of watching a puppet being brutally and hilariously decapitated in a classic song and dance number. This is no murder mystery though, it’s the wild adventures of one of Australia’s favourite half human duo trying to beat the traps and frustrations of career comedy and daring to dream of something more. The thing we all call out for in our sleep, imagine as we stare vacantly out of the 34th floor window of dreary office blocks, the new year’s resolution we make every year… Well almost; it’s opening an amusement park, one with purpose as different as the skin tones of its owners.
In their classic song and dance style, Sammy J and Randy pose the immortal philosophical questions of amusement park management that form the allegorical basis of our thinking on the question of balancing regulation with freedom. Velociraptor or petting zoo? Story circle or strip club? Human catapult or jumping castle?
Some may think that these are moot points, having already had the argument many times with friends and family. Even for those well versed in the debate, Sammy J and Randy Land will shed the kind of insight that will have you laughing out loud at your inner child and praying for your unborn child.
They’ve added some impressive new tricks to their repertoire including shadow puppetry, politician Joel Fitzgibbon and aquatic megafauna (don’t ask). Sammy J is still the wide eyed dreamer and Randy the caustic egotist but their long term collaboration seems to have resulted in bits of each rubbing off on the other. Sammy J shows his more maniacal side and Randy comes close to something you might call empathy or vulnerability. In addition to character development these more seasoned performers improvise as well as they butcher each other’s dreams and their wanders off-script were some of the show’s funniest moments.
4 out of 5 Stars
Sammy J and Randy Land
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
The Athenaeum Theatre
29 March – 17 April
