Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams
Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams was a blast, from the first strains of the satirical “Fuck you Disney”, you knew you were in for different kind of musical puppet show. Sammy J has always loved to play with his persona treading a fine line between a geeky, charming cabaret artist and a visceral comedian with a heart of pure evil. In puppeteer and musician Heath McIvor he has found a soul mate who can make puppets so achingly cute that the audience gasped at their adorableness and so repulsive that we were gasping again in between guffaws.
The plot revolved around Sammy being taken out of his mundane problematic real life into a fantasy world through his cupboard, to the Forest of Dreams where he made a friend called Fallo (not Frodo at all). There was a nasty King and some very naïve forest creatures (Terry the Squirrel was my favourite!!) and Sammy got himself way too involved. It was a story that tipped its hat to CS Lewis, Tolkein, Frank Baum any other fantasy story you can think of, but Sammy was never going to take you up the path of the obvious conclusion. That’s Disney’s job.
I loved the really Australian turns of phrase throughout the script such as “Off you pop”. It was something I also enjoyed in Heath’s Tyrannosaurus Sex last year. The language was shockingly filthy at times, and they are not kidding in describing the show as a puppet show for adults. The songs are, not surprisingly with Sammy and Heath’s proven musical abilities, all clever and entertaining originals, occasionally satirising Disney (a recurrent theme) and often, catchy toe tappers.
Sammy and Heath were deserving recipients of a Moosehead Award, the show was innovative, surprising, hilarious and you could see exactly where their money has gone. The puppets, sound and light effects were superb. Surprise special guest voice-overs from Ali McGreggor were lovely too. Congratulations also to Director Alan Brough who has added his experience and tight direction to the show. This was a brilliant Comedy Festival Show that I cannot recommend highly enough. You will have a ball; just leave the kids at home.
Visit the comedy festival website for bookings and further details