Don’t be taken in by the purple puppet on the poster, this show is not cute and it is definitely not for kids. This is a wickedly sharp, shameless, twisted riot of a show. If you have seen Sammy J or Randy before, you will understand their style of endearing depravity, but if this is your first time in their company, I feel you should be prepared to have your sensibilities somewhat assaulted.
Sammy J and Heath McIvor who is the puppeteer behind Randy enjoy writing back stories for themselves. At last years festival we found out what happened to Sammy J back in his school days of 1999 and Randy’s show was about his descent into the skids which is referred to in this years show. In Ricketts Lane, after a fairly pleasant introduction to the housemates, we were given an eye opening flashback that established the birth of their rather twisted friendship in 1994 at a pole dancing joint.
Then back to the present where Sammy J was working as a lawyer on an embezzling case that would put his friendship with Randy to the test. The story was simple enough but worked at surprising you and not going quite where you expected. The show was a musical, so the characters regularly broke into stunning songs with scurrilous lyrics. I often wonder what gorgeous compositions Sammy J could produce if he worked in the light instead of the dark side. But warped is what he does and he does it well.
My favourite things about Ricketts Lane were; the catchy songs, the new game created for the show called Chebble and a running joke about a cook book by President Obama. I’m also pleased that Heath got to make an acting appearance of sorts. The show could not be quite up to the brilliance of Forest of Dreams though, because not only was that more inventive, but it was a story that involved more shades of dark and lightness. With Sammy J and Randy you have 2 dirty rotten scoundrels, and though they harmonise and work really well together I think they need other characters with different personalities to play off. Maybe the show needed a bit more nice stuff to contrast with the naughty stuff. I was a little disappointed there weren’t more puppets in it too.
Still it was a very entertaining, rollicking show and everyone in the audience had a ball and cheered raucously at the end. So I recommend this to those who’ve seen Sammy J & Randy’s work before and those who don’t mind their comedy rough and rude. It’s actually lots of fun.
Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane runs until April 14th. Visit the comedy festival website for bookings and further details