7:00 – Slow Children At Play
This young group takes straight-up, no-gimmick sketch with familiar premises and makes them fresh again with strong performances, good ideas and a good command of the form. A worthy successor to similar groups like Elephant Larry and TROOP!
8:00 – Dance Party Newfoundland
If I’ve been recycling adjectives like sharp, witty, charismatic or well-executed, these guys deserve a turn at each. Not just a nonsequitur title, this group really is from Newfoundland, and it shows in their humor about Newfie coastal towns, the Canadian unemployment system, and Canadian country music acts – all topics Americans may not specifically know, but still carry enough familiarity that we can lose ourselves in the distinct characters.
9:00 – Fearsome
Fearsome has developed a reputation as one of New York’s racier troupes. Here you’ll find commercial and television parodies about prostitutes, gynecologists, songs about “Fat Upper Pussy Areas” and a laundry treatment spray called “Fuckstain.” Pepper liberally with off-the-wall absurdities and some pointed dialog. And vomit.
10:00 – MEAT
Meat is the kind of NY sketch mainstay that solicits laughter and applause merely by setting a familiar prop or introducing a favorite character – and not without cause. This four-woman group is a well oiled character-making machine, whether it’s an uncomfortably friendly Paul Bunyon, parents returned from the dead by an indifferent, martini swilling God, or the ever classic “Evil British Children.” This latest show was, in brief, blood-drenched.
11:00 – The 3rd Floor
If there were one word to describe The 3rd Floor, it would be “perennial.” But despite performing for going on eleven years now, and having seen them more times that I can recall, I rarely see them repeat material. But having a vast catalog doesn’t keep the Portland group from resting on their laurels – this latest NYSF performance is culled from two of their newest shows produced over this past year.
12:00 – Trophy Dad
You know that one guy at a party who can make a room laugh? Well, take that one guy from four different parties and you’d have Trophy Dad (I guess there are six members, but two were apparently absent). The show framed itself as an eighties-style teen flick about a high-stakes high school “key-tar” competition. They were certainly an audience favorite (which really showed when they covered for a horribly misplaced sound cue), but to me the video segments – Captain Hornbeam, The History of Count Grimbergen and “Teen Talk” – were the highlights of the show.
