Lively show revisits popular sketches At a glance
“Epic,” a funny sketchand-music show, counters the winter blues with bright talent worth celebrating.
The peppy production highlights Shadowbox Live’s best sketches and songs from the past six years in the Brewery District.
At the opening show Thursday, director Julie Klein and choreographer Katy Psenicka helped the large ensemble maintain a high level of energy, wit and variety.
Among the most beguiling songs: Klein’s soulful “Ball and Chain” and the ensemble’s lovely harmonies in “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”
Shadowbox Live will present “Epic” at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through March 17 at 503 S. Front St. Tickets cost $20 to $40, or $15 to $35 for students, senior citizens and military personnel. Call 614-416-7625, or visit www.shadowboxlive.org.
The sketches — newly tightened to good effect but with brief profanity that limits the audience to mature adults — find rich humor in ripe subjects, from love and sex to modern technology and pop culture.
The most elaborate sketch helps the show live up to its title. With knowing familiarity, the troupe pokes fun at “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” in “Sci Fi Story,” a parody mini-musical that pits Trekkies against Jedis like the Sharks versus the Jets in “West Side Story.”
At its best, “Epic” sparks laughter through movement and slapstick so well-choreographed that words aren’t necessary.
Hilarious case in point: “Sperm Dating,” in which a choosy Ova ( Psenicka) is wooed by many antic sperm. The talking characters often are upstaged by sperm parading across the stage in a wacky range of gaits and gestures.
Two deft sketches aptly reflect modern ambivalence about technology.
“The Phone” takes a nostalgic view, with a salesman (Jimmy Mak) selling a delighted customer (Brandon Anderson) on the virtues of land lines.
“The Long Way Home” offers a hopeful future, with a savvy global- positioning system ( Mak’s voice) advising a woman (Klein) about the best direction to go — in her car and romantic life — as she voices second thoughts about visiting her ex- boyfriend.
At just less than two hours, the two- act doesn’t wear out its welcome reprises.