Show: 28
Title: Clown Funeral
Category: Clowning / Comedy / Improv / Original Music / Physical Theater / Audience participation
By: Octoberdandy Productions
Created by: Jen Scott, Levi Weinhagen, Chris Rodriguez, Mark Benzel
Location: Theatre in the Round
Summary: Like the title says, it's a funeral for a clown.
Highlights: You've never attended a funeral this fun. These four clowns - Jen Scott as pastor clown Mads, Levi Weinhagen as lawyer clown Affa David, Chris Rodriguez as silent clown Pablo, and Mark Benzel as sweet clown Mo - lead us through the funeral for their friend Bongo J. Sprinkles, and it's a delight. We're given a program, with parts to sing, and the structure includes the usual funereal things like reading of the will, sharing of memories, songs, and readings. There's even a coffin (built before our eyes) and a body. But it's all super silly, very playful, and somewhat improvised. The cast is very playful with each other and with the audience (in a non-threatening way), with lots of (old) pop culture references and double entendres. And if you need your Reverend Matt fix at this year's Fringe, this is the place to get it, as the good Reverend (aka Matthew Kessen) makes a brief appearance in a banana costume to talk about the funeral practices of ancient civilizations. After a lot of goofing around, when sweet sensitive Mo finally gets to pay tribute to his friend with a lovely little song, it's surprisingly poignant. This is a very funny show about a very serious thing - death - that somehow makes it less scary.
