Massimilliano Rosetti and Manu Tiger are like a live action cartoon or perhaps a 1930’s Laurel and Hardy short where the boys have joined a circus. We open with them standing on stage wearing Velcro suits. Rosetti has the loop, Manu has the hook and their inevitable attachment comes immediately and hilariously. The absurdity of the Velcro suits is used to generate some excellent physical comedy and, even when they’re removed, the elements of slapstick remain.
An enjoyably silly show
Using varying wooden blocks, tiny and large teeter boards and a massive aluminium half pipe, Rosetti and Tiger at first launch juggling balls through the air in ever more complicated patterns before working their way up to launching Tiger through the air. It’s acrobatics with an element of human juggling and the joy of the piece comes from the way they move the blocks and teeter boards around the space in order to facilitate the acrobatics which makes Attached feel like a real-life version of the classic board game, Mousetrap, where a Rube Goldberg machine is built for the simple task of dropping a cage on a small rodent. This builds to a complex conglomeration of kit for a grand finale which, unfortunately, goes on a little too long and, when it fails the first time; the audience and I are confused as to what happened. A quick nudge of one of the pieces re-engages the domino effect and we get the gag but the momentum is lost.
Where Attached slightly falls down is in its repetition; there’s too many variations on the same trick. The entertainment value of how they set up each part is great but it’s essentially watching the same flip and catch for almost half the show. However, Attached is an enjoyably silly show with two performers who are excellent comedians and have a great understanding of physical comedy and timing.
