How does a hazelnut end up in a walnut tree? Who wins the duel between a Mexican bandit and an American cowboy? And most importantly: does it hurt more to be hit by an imaginary stone than an invisible one? All will be revealed during this fast and furious 55 minute comedy rampage.
The performance has more levels than Facebook’s Candy Crush.
The solo performance Get Lost Lancelot by Sam Quinn is an intriguing mixture of storytelling, surrealist comedy and stand-up. The backbone of the story is Sam taking his imaginary friend Lancelot to the pub to tell him that it’s all over between them. However, Sam’s attempts to stop using his overeager imagination fail miserably. As a last resort he attends an IA (Imaginers Anonymous) meeting: “Hello, I’m Sam and I am an imaginer”.
The performance has more levels than Facebook’s Candy Crush. It starts with the dos and don’ts of an aspiring comedian. I’ve got one: don’t knock over the reviewer’s drink while running around the audience. Unless you’re really good. And Sam Quinn is. His acting is very physical and expressive – bordering on manic – in a Blue Peter presenter kind of way. More importantly, Quinn manages to be funny, thought provoking and socially aware at the same time. Not an easy task.
Because there is an important point hidden underneath all this silliness, Quinn is trying to tackle the increasing suppression of playfulness in adults. In fact, he considers the lack of imagination and willingness to play a mental illness that affects the nature of our society – without play-full there can be no peace-full. Makes me wonder if Mr. Putin ever had an imaginary friend? Probably not.
Sam Quinn has plenty of good suggestions on how to save the world including self-conversational classes, Hide and Seek Wednesdays at Goldman Sachs, sectioning CEOs to fun houses to learn the true meaning of life, mandatory swings in all commercial buildings, public displays of playful peculiarity and posting dog dirt through the letterbox of TV channel E!. Is it too late to run for the European Parliament elections? I have found my candidate.
