Cabahooray is a two-man character piece about a cut-price cabaret entertainer (Ben Sutton) who is put in the lurch when his harmonizing partner (it’s implied not equal) doesn’t show up, and he only has an Igor-like stage manager (Jimmy James Eaton) for help. It was a sold-out show with a classy cliental; the cruise ship atmosphere was believable with the gold hand railings and wine in plastic cups. The lights go down, the Tom Jones CD starts up, and the man no one comes to see Darren Spandau sashays onto stage. Unsurprisingly, Dave does not saunter on after, and straight away everything we know about the show has come to pass, so the audience is as in the dark as Spandau is. Looking like an embalmed Billy Idol with the voice of a Doncaster Rover, Spandau pulled every trick he knows out of his toupee to get through the night. Unfortunately, all he knows is floor show business. He hypnotizes, he telekinesis’s, he emesis’s, all for the amusement of the audience and the fulfillment of his contract.
This at times rib-tickling show manages to gain laughs from recognition not just out of the schmoozy cruise ‘entertainment’, but also from the plight of the tears-of-a-clown dying on the inside performer, and eventually subverting even that stereotype for more laughs before putting the boot into the Bizarro counterpart to cabaret, the ‘very special plays’ made by angry young drama students. This is admirable, and appreciated. Whether by plan or not the crowd tonight seemed to be made up of much of the same people that patron only the cabaret shows they parody, which caused an unusual, not entirely comfortable atmosphere. There were laughs, but they seemed pocketed.
There was another problem though.
I cannot say much for fear of ruining it, but there’s a planned incident in the tale that took the show careening down a path I’m not sure I was ready for or wanted to go. I hope I was the only one (although it certainly split the audience), because it was a precisely executed twist worthy of a more appreciative consumer, I was just much more comfortable where we were.
The show, in its entirety, seemed disjointed, dare I say unfinished. Sure, much was improvised and with this comes the tainted spoils, but for a simple single premise show it may have tried to play too many trick shots. Perhaps Ben and Jimmy were worried they’d stretch the joke too thin, on the contrary most of the crowd were disappointed (even put out) it wasn’t longer, but it felt like getting a seafood platter when all you have ordered or have time for is a scampi. It does, however, have an end so over the top as to almost save it. The characters felt like they were just getting warmed up, that this was the pilot episode to a longer, enjoyable journey. I hope this is the case.
But it all comes down to personality, and these two had the goods. Jimmy Eaton proves he’s just as funny subdued as he is krumping to the manic fire that burns his insides, and Ben Sutton is unquestionably one mean mirthful m&th#rf#ck&r with clockwork monkey comic timing (and face), so at least the first half will keep you warm on those lonely nights at sea.