The Groggy Squirrel

In his first solo festival show, Adam McKenzie sure has chucked himself in at the deep end. Attempting to locate all of the people in your Prep class after twenty two years for the sake of comedy goes beyond the call of duty. As a result, Adam has put together an excellent show which tells the hilarious tale of his quest.

The quest involved many dramas and setbacks. Numerous emails, newspaper features, phone calls and advertisements were utilized with a few naive detective methods thrown in for extra laughs. He even employed the services of a Private Investigator (who sent in a brilliant photo of himself) and also came dangerously close to finding many of them through illegal means. There was even a subplot about a series of cryptic emails from someone involved with the class somehow.

Quite a bit of computer animation, images and Photoshop manipulation were used to illustrate his story. Using a faux “Friendfinder” webpage, each located classmate was revealed with a kind of Superhero fanfare. Their image from the class photo was shown along with a summary of their achievements and if Adam had received one, a current photo.

Adam uncovered people of varying backgrounds including a pharmacist living in London, a professional body builder and the youngest ever Board Member of the Melbourne Cricket Club. A number of them were able to attend a shindig organized by Adam for them to catch up as a group.

Adam’s storytelling was captivating, with everyone in the audience dying to find out which classmate he had located next. As he presented each one, it brought forth a cheer from the crowd. He even incorporated a bit of vocal character work as he recounted details of some of the email responses he had received. This was a lot more entertaining than if he had simply read the email in his own voice.

I have heard the complaint that the fact that Adam hadn’t actually completed his quest meant that the show was also incomplete. I felt that this was irrelevant because the charm of the show lies in the actual telling of the story with all of its’ twists and turns. This was done so well that it didn’t require a neat and tidy resolution for the story to end. It also handily leaves room for any additions to be included later. We may very well pose the question “Being the glutton for punishment that he is, will Adam try for a sequel?”

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