22 September 2016

Pajama Men


Review by: Paul Towers, 22 September 2016
2 Man 3 Muskateers by Pajama Men
Soho Theatre production
Curve 22 & 23 Sptember

“2 men, 1 musician and a whole load of mayhem.”

A bare stage with a pianist tinkling on his ivories as we walk in is no indication of the bizarre world we are about to stumble into. What we get is 2 men, 1 musician and a whole load of mayhem. This is the result of Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez’s weird and wonderful imaginations being let loose (and I mean loose) on Alexandra Dumas’ iconic story of The Three Muskateers.
As these two American legends of improv have proved in countless comedy festivals around the world, there is no limit to what they think (and do) get away with when it comes to bending traditional narrative round corners, curve balls and any kind of logic.
As a result we spend an hilarious hour trying to unscramble the tale of three French renegades while mixed up with centaurs, cardinals and who knows what other characters they have made up purely to add a laugh to the script.
Add into this is their razor sharp ad libs and asides, both to the audience and themselves. Several times we could see as they tried to corpse each other and failing miserably, so professional are this pair of  veteran performers.
While the actors are acting away at the front of Curve’s Studio space their musician is having his own fun with all sorts of weird and wonderful instruments.
Altogether this is a fun evening of surreal silliness that leaves you with a very nice smile on your face.
Pajama Men is on at Curve again on Friday 23rd September and then on tour. Details on www.pajama-men.com
First published on Western Gazette

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