Anyone for Tennis?’s Cutthroat is, at the face of it, a story of Jase and Doody’s experiences in the dog eat dog world of advertising. In actuality, it’s just a bouncing off point to showcase the considerable musical comedy talents of Anyone for Tennis?.
Anyone for Tennis? have really nailed musical comedy. While relying mostly on the tried and true formula of taking a bad pun or two and adding a tune, the Tennis boys really know how to squeeze every last drop from the song without ever overindulging. From their songs about flirting to a love affair with a pizza, each song contains enough twists to keep the audience laughing all the way through. It’s not just strumming a couple of chords either – these guys know how to work their guitars, and always keep it catchy.
It’s a real pity then that the underlying narrative of the show doesn’t match their music. The basic tale of a couple of slackers trying to fake their way through their jobs at an advertising firm doesn’t provoke enough interest to really carry the show. The large number of office characters that are introduced are a little confusing, and the audience is still being introduced to them half an hour into the show. The office dynamics are interesting, but there’s just way too much setup for very little payoff. The issues with the story are further compounded by the fact that the songs have been shoe-horned into the show with very little relationship to the narrative.
All this is not to say that this is a bad show, in fact it’s a rather good show, it’s just not the great show that it could have been. The songs are fantastic, and there are parts of the overall story that are truly inspired – the ‘Fired Drill’ and Doody stepping into ‘Narration’ mode spring immediately to mind. In fact, I’d probably be less disappointed if I hadn’t seen last year’s “Take Your Time” and witnessed just how good these boys can be when everything falls into place. This isn’t the finest showcase of Anyone for Tennis?’s talents, but it’s still some great fun.
Visit the Comedy Festival Website for booking details.