Amateur Hour! finds humour and pathos in awkwardness
If enjoyed as nothing more than a collection of comedy sketches by a pair of very talented performers, Amateur Hour! provides value for money and fuel for a number of belly laughs - an all-too-rare commodity nowadays.
The cast of amateur hour. Picture: Supplied.
But Gwydion Beynon’s script does much more than provide structure within which people can fall over and clown around on cue, and the expertise and sensitivity of Jemma Kahn and Glen Biderman-Pam, who each play half a dozen distinct characters, is responsible for the giggles occasionally getting cut short thanks to audience members developing a lump in their throats.
There’s great pathos, for instance, in the decision of a mime to break character mid-performance in order to check up on someone she’s deeply worried about.
There’s a superficial punchline there – hey look, a talking mime – but noting that a person who chooses to express themselves without words is suddenly forced to talk (and it’s not an easy conversation to have) because metaphors and creativity simply won’t cut it anymore gives the skit considerably more impact.
Elsewhere, there is wonderful, cheerfully delivered silliness – the antidote to the output of playwrights, gifted as they are, who feel that the stage is more valuable as a soapbox than it is as a playground.
Amateur Hour! is a textured, intelligent spoof of the cringeworthy tosh friends, family members and unfortunate paying stiffs are subjected to when actors, comedians, singers and other performances begin paying their dues.
It mocks what deserves mocking while also paying tribute to the courage it takes to insert yourself into a situation of guaranteed awkwardness in an effort to convince your audience that they want to remain there with you.
The sketch featuring a bickering folk duo presenting their original hit song is a pearl that would make a sublime addition to the entertainment line-up at the next Naledi Awards ceremony.
