Reviews for "Look Ma, No Hands" at the Winnipeg Fringe:

Winnipeg Free Press:

FOUR STARS

A full house on opening night for these well-loved sketch-comedy locals, and a deserved standing ovation at the end: this is some red-hot thespianism all right.

Crammed into 60 minutes are 16 sketches ranging from the smart (a clever gag on security paranoia in the age of the War on Terrorism) to the silly, pulled off by four lithe and appealing comedians with rubber faces and a flair for the physical.

Some yuks are stale — gags on mom-jeans, for instance — but others are super-fresh: a show-closing tug-of-war between romantic and rapacious ballet choreographers isn’t just clever. It’s hilarious and perfectly performed.

I’ll put it this way: I usually sigh at sketch comedy, but I found most of this delightful, often laugh-out-loud funny. If you like sketch comedy, Hot Thespian Action will put you in stitches.

— Melissa Martin

 

CBC:

FOUR STARS

Hometown festival faves Hot Thespian Action are known for their popular brand of zany sketch comedy. Although, this time the ensemble is one thespian short: Jane Testar is in New York doing a workshop (though she appears in the form of a Jane dummy holding the title cards offstage).

So how do the remaining four acquit themselves?

There are a few fairly humdrum formulaic sketches mocking diet plans and the never-ending appeal of Perkins among the elderly: obvious jokes in familiar comic territory that appeal to wide general audience - funny but not groundbreaking.

But Hot Thespian Action excel when they go off the beaten track. Their best sketches have a kind of inventive lunacy about them: like Social Piranha about a loser fish trying to ingratiate herself into the group, or The Party News in which anchors and reporters deliver a blow-by-blow account of a house party. The troupe has a solid grasp of comic dance and mime. Their unique sensibilities flourish in their Love versus Lust mock ballet as the prim muse of love and the horny muse of lust fight for control in a blooming romance.

This isn't their best show but they've set the bar pretty high. They are still one of the most promising acts at the Fringe and one of the funniest but I want a little more screwball and a little more edge.

—Katie Nicholson

 

 

Here's what people are saying about Hot Thespian Action:

“The performances across the board are virtually pitch-perfect, and the troupe’s sense of sketch comedy structure and pacing is extremely strong... It’s almost depressing how good they are so young.” – Dean Jenkinson, Writer: This Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC.

“The local quintet of Shannon Guile, Jacqueline Loewen, Garth Merkeley, Ryan Miller and Jane Testar unfailingly produces wildly entertaining sketch comedy that gives the genre a good name. It’s not just the uniformly adroit performances — beautifully timed, with a physicality that can be graceful or goofy as required — but the bizarre, brilliant territory this troupe’s fevered collective brain explores.... Somebody give these folks a TV show. - Jill Wilson, Winnipeg Free Press.

“These guys are armed with smarts and versatility for sure…but that’s not all: they’re also brandishing some formidable zany creativity.” - Katie Nicholson, CBC.

"Hot Thespian Action is an enormously talented group of performers!" - Tom Anniko, Executive Producer of Comedy/Drama Development, CBC

 

Full Reviews

5 Star Review for Hands Off in the Winnipeg Free Press

According to the old Saturday Night Live template, men tend to dominate in a sketch comedy troupe.

No such dynamic exists among the five members of Winnipeg's own Hot Thespian Action. The three women in the troupe, Shannon Guile, Jacqueline Loewen and Jane Testar, not only outnumber their two male partners (Garth Merkeley and Ryan Miller), they're more physical and bolder in their comedy contributions, especially in sketches that include a mime throwdown, a robotic girls' night out, a glimpse into the tragic downward spiral of air freshener addiction, and a flat-out hilarious staging of The Miracle of Birth. But there are no weak links in the troupe and everyone gets a chance to shine, whether it's Miller's interpretation of a young/old dog, or Testar's choice of a heartfelt, folkie interpretation to ask the musical question: Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me?

If you've blundered into a lot of bad comedy at the Fringe, Hands Off feels -- contrary to its title -- as reviving as a high-end spa treatment administered by caring professionals who know how to rub you the right way.

FIVE STARS

-Randall King, Winnipeg Free Press

 

5 Star Review for Hands Down in the Winnipeg Sun

Passive-aggressive women going at it battle-royale style, gay BFFs providing social life-saving advice, bizarre tropical birds looking for mates — the witty wisecrackers of Hot Thespian Action are all over the map in Hands Down.

The local sketch comics — Shannon Guile, Jacqueline Loewen, Garth Merkeley, Ryan Miller and Jane Testar — have concocted an odd and hugely entertaining mixture of skits for their latest Fringe effort. Among the highlights: A couple's silent brawl for the restaurant tab, twisted game show The Price is So Wrong and a song that ponders what would have happened if Shakespeare's tragic heroes had just talked to their women before pulling their daggers (duh!).

Each Hot Thespian brings something to the table — most memorably Miller, for his gawky bird impression, and Testar, a master of facial expressions — and every thoughtfully penned sketch keeps the laughs flowing so consistently throughout the hour that it's a shame it has to end.

FIVE STARS

-Lindsey Ward, Winnipeg Sun

 

4 Star Review for Hands Off by CBC Radio

The five young Winnipeggers of Hot Thespian Action score big-time with a briskly-paced, tightly-written, and very very funny hour of sketch comedy.

With a sharp eye towards society's foibles, the Hot Thespians tackle everything from media fear-mongering, to air freshener addiction, to pet neglect, to sexism in politics. The performances across the board are virtually pitch-perfect, and the troupe's sense of sketch comedy structure and pacing is extremely strong. A piece entitled "Good Time Girls" is as funny a sketch as I've seen in years, and if properly filmed and posted on YouTube, could be a viral video sensation.

For an aging hack like me, it's almost depressing how good they are so young.

FOUR STARS

-Dean Jenkinson, Writer: This Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC

 

Grade "A" Review for Hands Down in Uptown Magazine

Side-splitting, snappy and sassy, Hot Thespian Action is hands down (yeah, I said it) the best sketch comedy troupe in Winnipeg, a point proven in its latest Fringe Fest production. Let's start with the straight-up silly stuff: In the scene Paradise Lost, Ryan Miller plays a peacock pursuing a partner with an absolutely priceless prance. In Torture the troupe takes on those who can't tell between "there", "their" and "they're." All is not just harmless hilarity, though. In Hands Down, the Hot Thespians take on political correctness, paranoid parents and passive aggressive behaviour. And they do it all very quickly. The scenes are short, never overstaying their welcome. Self-editing is a concept lost on many a sketch troupe (just watch SNL), but Hot Thespian Action has polished its parody to perfection.

A

- Jared Story, Uptown Magazine