Short and Curly do not do things by halves. They throw themselves into every role and every situation with an overwhelming amount of energy and enthusiasm, producing hilarity at every comic turn, so that you cannot fail to laugh and join in the fun. Their style of comedy proffers larger than life characters that are so ridiculous that they make up for less tight aspects of the script.
Their style of comedy proffers larger than life characters that are so ridiculous that they make up for less tight aspects of the script.
The linking narrative of Curly wanting to appeal to the youth serves its purpose, even if preludes to the sketches are tenuous at best. What makes a frustrating lack of sense is a particularly dark punch line, which is simply cheap and not that funny, and is utterly tonally different from the bright and cheery rest of the show. Otherwise wordplay and absurd jokes abound, and the show is full of delightful nonsense, highlights being the fortune teller set-piece, park ranger sketch, the witch doctor gags and the unbelievably silly monster sketch.
What brings the show into its own is its technical side. While needing some polishing, the ad hoc nature when using an astonishing number of props, costume and sound effects gives Short and Curly a notable aesthetic which they revel in. Even if, at times, it can seem a little too much and a cause for clunkiness, it allows for lots of visual gags which are oft forgotten aspect of live sketch comedy, and give the show an extra dimension, another level of silliness to play with. This, coupled with the audience interaction which is rife throughout the show, give the impression that Short and Curly are always going at full throttle, milking every possible avenue of theatricality they can to make us laugh.
Sometimes it can feel like the running gags are slightly overdone, that there are a few too many fourth wall breaking ad libs, and the choreography is needing a little more oomph and pizzazz, but otherwise the performances are strong, the material funny and all in all it is a laugh out loud fun fest that is definitely worth a watch.
