Although based on a loose narrative “My Brother and I are Porn Stars” takes absurd turns at every turns. The fast paced story is loosely based on the idea of a brother and sister abandoned at an early age by their porn star parents. The two then decide to become porn stars themselves, to make a living.
This is a difficult show to get into and the characters were difficult to empathise with. This material choice for this show is risqué in so far as it is largely based on incest and pornography. The difficulty however isn’t the shocking nature of the material. The problem is that this show fails to bring any real poignancy to this subject matter, providing shock value as opposed to challenging the audience. In some ways this is rooted in the lack of empathy or connection that the audience feels for the characters.
The narrative, as I said, has a lot of absurd content and takes many twists you wouldn’t expect. However this creates problems for the show in that it is disjointed, even in terms of absurdity.
This is a high energy performance from its two protagonists Jackie Van Beek and Jonathan Brugh, and although there are a lot of good ideas here they are not backed up with the comic treatment they deserve. The lack of construction and focus on funny props over genuine humour leaves this show not reaching its full potential.
For booking details go to Porn Stars