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CITIZINE REVIEWS By Rose McDonough Upon hearing three certain phrases, my face scrunches up like a 6-year old who just smelled his first whiff of bad milk: "moist nougat," "insufficient funds," and "sketch comedy." I circumvent the candy bar aisle at Target and I am so cheap (I prefer the term "thrifty") that debt is practically a fiscal impossibility for me, but I just can't seem to avoid sketch comedy. It's more prevalent in Los Angeles than those damn street closures. Luckily for me, there is "Lloyd Dobbler's Boombox," a tight, intelligent two-man joy at the ImprovOlympic in Hollywood. Now, Lloyd Dobbler is the name of John Cusack's engaging, music-loving, self-aware, and very funny character from Say Anything, a movie that has remarkable universal appeal for both teenage AND adult boys / girls. I would venture to say the same thing about this show. It begins with a solitary boombox onstage that is joined by the two charismatic writer / actors, Mike O'Hara and Douglas Sarine. They wear identical jumpsuits, but it quickly becomes evident that they are very different personalities. Mr. O'Hara is the Doberman-Hardy to Mr. Sarine's Golden Retriever-Laurel. With guitar in hand, the two sing energetically about each other with chemistry that reminds the audience of a fraternal married couple (or two actors who know each other well enough to poke fun knowing it's for the good of the show). The scenes in the show are just that -- SCENES, not skits populated by players winking at the audience and trying to upstage their fellow actors with bits they wrote for themselves. No, these actors share the stage. Without summarizing the show, there are three standout pieces for me. They are: Two manly LAPD officers encounter their real fears (Jello with fruit chunks, a never-begun book report due NOW) while pursuing a suspect in an abandoned house. The finale of the scene involves Mr. Sarine confronting something that would certainly scare the pants off me: re-enacting Kevin Bacon's dance moves in the grain warehouse scene from Footloose. He attacks the dance with an enthusiasm and commitment rarely seen in plays, and certainly lacking in most sketch shows. He is a strapping man who moves like Twyla Tharp. Delightful. After that, Mr. O'Hara takes the stage alone as Doyle Alexander, a hapless ADD-afflicted man who has lost his young son "Big Time" in a shopping mall. It is a credit to Mr. O'Hara's acting that he makes this character that you would NEVER want to be stuck with on a plane, one of the most endearing and heartfelt moments of the show. Finally, the two join forces as security guards at a Chicago sporting event. They finish each other's sentences with frighteningly authentic Chicago accents and jargon as they chastise the audience for rowdy behavior. Soon, I predict the phrase "Sit Down!" will be more widely used than "You're Fired!" I would be remiss in my duties if I did not mention the unexpected genius of the final scene. I can't say more than to mention that there really is only ONE person making all those sounds. It's an oral tour de force. You know, now that I think of it, I do have one complaint about "Lloyd Dobbler's Boombox." It ended. Lloyd Dobbler's Boombox. ---- Reader Comments No Comments. |
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