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| Dweebs at camp - Peggy Platt and Lisa Koch (Chris Bennion) |
Ham for the Holidays:
Jurassic Pork
Tongueinchic Productions/ACT Theatre
Through December 24, 2016
Some people go to A
Christmas Carol at ACT Theatre as part of their holiday tradition. Some go
to The Nutcracker, and some go to Seattle Men’s Chorus. Those who know
where to get their dose of funny know to flock to Ham for the Holidays and Lisa
Koch and Peggy Platt!
Somehow, each year, they come up with new skits and new
comic commentary that hit the funny nail on the head! The only people who might
not have very much fun sitting through their skits are Drumpf supporters. So,
if you’re not, you might get some solace from laughing at some of the aspects
of the 2016 political season.
These women never fail to deliver smart comedy. A whole lot
of that comes from the catchy and gut-busting lyrics penned by Lisa Koch in
parody songs.
Koch and Platt have a rotating roster of characters that
surface intermittently each year and you never quite know who you’ll see. This
year’s characters include the Slam Poet – she of the very quiet speaking voice
and the huge declaiming boom.
In a way that gives an audience that familiar feeling, the Ham shows have some soothingly regular
aspects that you can anticipate. There are lots of interludes of the strangest
YouTube videos from who knows where. Some of them are holiday oriented and some
are just strange. How ‘bout a clip of Tom Jones in a gold lamè jumpsuit with a
significant package?
There is always a form of game show where two lucky audience
members can participate. This year, Are
You Smarter Than A Queen pits audience members against two famous queens.
This year’s prize, three months of an ACTPass, is a really great one for people
who like to attend a lot of theater!
You know you’re going to get choice selections from the
Sequim Gay Men’s Chorus and this year, they have a new artistic director who is
much pushier than Kenneth Dolman! But maybe his song selections are better? This
year, we find out that Peninsula Housing For Aging Gays (PHFAG) has gone belly
up and uprooted a couple of the members. But Tenor Johnathan has found a new
special someone he introduces with some special lyrics…. And Les Miz will never be quite the same
again!
Koch and Platt also bring back their duo Heartwood Mac to do
medleys of songs that sound vaguely familiar, with very different lyrics. A
brand new sketch has a couple of dweebs from Camp Stillasqueemish band together
after being ostracized and they’re able to rise above it all in a heart-warming
moment for all of us who felt teased as outsiders.
But the pièce de résistance of every year is a new opus from
the far-flung mind of Mama Euomi Spudd, supported by her always-weary daughter
Wynotta. This year, Euomi has decided to Spuddify Star Trek. So, prepare your
phasers and beam yourselves up to Spudd Trek! It doesn’t really make much
sense, but if you’re laughing hard, you don’t care!
Directed by David
Hunter Koch (yes, Lisa’s brother!), the long-form sketch comedies are
generally succinct and never wear out their welcome. It’s an art in itself to
know when to cut something short.
Veteran sketch performer Michael Oaks is here, again for the fun, along with Joel Domenico, Abbey Drake, and musical director Bruce Hall. Domenico continues to expand his talents beyond his
considerable beef-cake-ability, with an astoundingly good singing voice. Shout
outs to the rest of the creative team of: Robert
J. Aguilar (Lighting), Robin
Macartney (Set/Props), Kim Dancy
(Costumes), and Lisa Koch (Sound/Video).
Take your friends, down a glass or two ahead of time, and
settle in for a lot of Ho Ho Hos and some Ha Ha Has.
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