Marvel inspires two-man show
A hit two-man stage show which condenses a decade of Marvel movies into one hour will make its New Zealand debut in Christchurch this weekend.
Performing as The Just Us League, Javier Jarquin and Gary Tro’s MARVELus is billed as a ‘‘weapons-free comedy that takes no prisoners’’, as the pair skewer the much-loved franchise from the original Iron Man to 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
Speaking to Stuff from Perth, where they’ve been performing the show as part of the Fringe World Festival (and nominated for Best Comedy), the duo say fans can expect jokes based on the franchise, as well as some niche references and plenty of nerd humour.
However, Jarquin, originally from the Garden City, is at pains to point out that audiences who are casual fans of the movies ‘‘have also loved the show’’.
He says he and Tro came up with the idea one day at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
‘‘We had been doing some improv together as a double act, we both grew up reading the comics and are both massive fans of superheroes and the movies – it seemed like such an obviously awesome idea for a show.’’
Audiences seemed to agree – their debut at the same festival last year played out in front of packed houses and garnered impressive reviews.
‘‘Smart, spirited and clearly in love with its source material,’’ was how The Scotsman‘s David Pollock described it.
The pair admit they’ve been so busy they haven’t had a chance to catch Black Panther yet, but say that it and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok will be included in a second show which they plan on debuting later this year.
Jarquin says they went to see the latter together at a midnight screening and ‘‘laughed our a...s off’’.
‘‘Thor: Ragnarok is an amazing movie and really shows off the directing talents and humour of Taika. It answers the questions of what happened to Hulk and Thor while the other Avengers were locked in Civil War. It also takes Thor in a totally new direction and refreshes the character.
As for their favourite movies and characters, Tro cites Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (‘‘it’s just so charming and fun’’) and Thor (‘‘now that they’ve found what to do with him’’), while Jarquin favours Civil War and Iron Man (‘‘He’s so human – he has his heart in the right place, but makes bad decisions with terrible consequences’’).
The dynamic duo say while this weekend’s performance is sadly only a one-off – added to the travel schedule at the last minute – they would love to come back and do a national tour some day.
❚ The first New Zealand performance of MARVELus will take place at Christchurch’s Space Academy tomorrow night at 8pm. For more information and tickets, see eventfinda.co.nz