★★★★1/2
Adelaide Fringe. Ukiyo @ Gluttony. 20 Feb 2022
Oh Mr Spin, you made our day!
Mr Spin, with sidekick The Maestro on piano, delivers a funny, kid friendly, laugh a minute show, with a few adult jokes thrown in for good measure.
In matching suits and bright red socks, Maestro acts as the straight foil to Mr Spin – except when he doesn’t. Mr Spin’s primary schtick is to emphasise what can go wrong, and often does. There’s a real vaudeville vibe here, as the Maestro tries to keep Mr Spin and his tricks in line, but he soon gets into the vibe, taking on Mr Spin in the money trick and outsmarting him completely.
Mr Spin is a great juggler and a dab hand at the magic tricks, and manages to keep the kids laughing along as things go terribly wrong and then wonderfully right! The six ball saga, without giving anything away, is an exercise in pathos and joy, and of course every juggler should don a red tutu!
There’s a wonderful clothing routine that every child and parent can relate to – sleeves in the wrong place, jacket on backward, pockets gone weird – one doesn’t see enough of this simple but clever comedy. And yes, there are fart jokes.
There’s plenty of slapstick with a music stand that just won’t go together as a music stand should but where it goes most vaudevillian is when Maestro becomes the one man band with drums, piano accordion and trumpet and Mr Spin takes up the bass on a unicycle. This is, quite simply, hilarious heart in the mouth stuff.
This is simple comedy at its best – the nervous, sweaty Mr Spin and the too cool for school Maestro had the kids and adults completely entertained. And the adult jokes? The sheet music line is certainly on repeat.
Arna Eyers-White
When: 20 Feb to 20 March
Where: Ukiyo @ Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
