Often Hilarious "Something Stupid" Brings "Stupid" Very Close to High Art
Monday, June 17th, Los Angeles, Ca
written by Entertainment Editor, Dan Ruth
Over-the-top comedy can be a real bear, especially when dealing with large casts and a detailed, idiotic story. Let's not forget however, there is also an art to stupid, and good-stupid is often a tasty food group for theatre and comedy lovers alike. Last night I wanted an escape. I read up on this show and thought, tonight, watching something stupid sounds great. Well, I got what I wanted, but there’s more here than just a silly, elongated sketch or an endless series of random jokes just threaded together. What writing team, Louis Hillegrass IV, AJ Boulund and Devin Beckwith have created is a well-imagined, dare I say, intelligent screwball comedy that is chock-full of theatre in-jokes and stage insanity. Something Stupid opened to a sold-out house at The Thymele Arts Theatre last night and what resulted was a love letter to theatre, film, art and comic timing. In short, good-stupid either works or it doesn’t and Something Stupid works a majority of the time.
When we first meet writer, theatre geek and general all-around fall guy, Victor (Matthew Deegan), dry artist Ben (Ben Hrycak) and dumpster-diver Ash (the very funny Dean Nagata Bottorff), you can’t help but think, “where is this going?” Okay, true that sounds like the first ten minutes of many a screwball comedy. These “roommates” are about to be evicted, but when Ash discovers a priceless painting in the trash that he stole off of the dreaded dumpster gang the “Trash Dragons,” they try selling the painting to world-famous art dealer, Giuseppe Artolini (Mitchell Pratt) for 5 million dollars, a plan that should keep the roommates eviction-free and rich AF. That is where this insane little opus begins to skyrocket. Mitchell Pratt put simply, is magnificent. He brings the energy and the acting style needed for a stupid comedy and he's firing on all cylinders. Pratt sets the pace for the rest of the show and the entire cast rises to the occasion. There’s no need to continue with the synopsis, so let’s just say that the evening gets screwier and screwier as this highly-energized ensemble has a blast in their sandbox of loony; dodging bullets from cardboard cut-out machine guns, amid a sea of hilarious puns, theatre in-jokes, bumbling gangsters (the very funny Averick Faeth and Devin Beckwith), and the Trash Dragons themselves, who are truly terrifying as questionable chorus dancers (Holden Cooper, Nat Pendergraft and Abigail Torrence). All of this insanity is aided by the all-too-familiar sadistic stage manager, played by the on-point Finley Gaedke. So have no fear, theatre geeks, because when you’re watching a show loaded with show-tunes and musical references, it’s bound to be saved in the end by the ghost of Bob Fosse (Sam Pinnelas). And that is the stuff of good-stupid comedy. Even if you’re not a theatre geek, you can join in with the fun like the character Boombox from the Trash Dragons, who, upon being shot by a stray bullet exclaims, “I didn’t even get the reference!”
I really applaud this ridiculous play and cannot help but see a bright future for Team-Stupid, as it ventures closer and closer to a world populated by very few. In all honesty, Charles Ludlam, John Waters, Monty Python and Charles Busch definitely came to mind throughout the evening, so Something Stupid and it's band of merry idiots is to be commended. Sure, this show is extremely rough around the edges, and I suppose that’s part of its charm, but I’m hoping that this production commits to crafting, nipping, tucking, sculpting and making this show tighter and leaner as it continues its run to infinity and beyond. It’s not high art just yet, but it’s well on the way.
Rounding out this comedy ensemble is Quinn Shields and Alfredo Solis-Fuentes because, why not? Something Stupid is directed by Louis Hillegass IV. As a closing note, I found the videographer who lurks about the space during the performance bad-stupid in comparison and I'm hoping they can find a less-distracting way to film during performances.
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