My kids are spoilt. I don’t deny it. They get far more than their fair share of ‘cool stuff’. So these holidays we’ve been trying to DO cool stuff”. My three young ones and I have been to stage shows in the past with various degrees of popularity (my son being particularly hard to impress). This time, however, we tried our luck with a trip into the city to see the “Trash Test Dummies” – a show featured as part of the 2016 Auckland Comedy Festival.From the moment the three clowns in rubbish collector’s overalls entered the stage, they had the audience in the palms of their hands. For me and my three under-11-year-olds, this was an incredibly entertaining rollercoaster ride of slapstick comedy, improvisation, choreographed dance, mime, acrobatics and juggling extravagance. Just when you thought you had the show under wraps – another surprise would come hurtling out to whack your funny bone! And if the child behind me’s hysterical giggles was anything to go by – this trio will be the only choice for “what I did in the holiday stories’ for many kids when school goes back next week!
We had over an hour of perfectly-arranged sketches with minimal props and incredibly honest and imaginative stage craft. This was a show completely targeted at families with young kids, but I also know this had me with pretty sore smile muscles at the end too.
Many will be enraptured by the acrobatic feats of strength and balance, some by the comedy value of the hilarious sketches, and others by the awesome rhythmic sessions presented on garbage bins. But for me? Not many acts I know of can get an entire audience of mostly young kids to suddenly erupt into a full scale battle of toy balls – properly hurled from one end of the theatre to the other – and bring the complete chaos back under control to continue with a beautifully disgusting sketch of a very tearful funeral – with an especially culturally sensitive coffin.
With my hard-to-please son laughing his head off every time one of these performers got his “jingles” hurt or smacked in the face (which the show wasn’t short of), I’d judge this show as a triumph in “doing cool stuff”.
Tickets to Trash Test Dummies were kindly supplied by Auckland Live.
