As this year’s Olympics draws to a close, some previous stars of the last Games have landed at the Fringe to bring their unique brand of non-verbal physical comedy to a wider audience. If you enjoyed the fast-paced introduction to pictograms as part of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, you’ll love the antics of Masa and Hitoshi.
Based around mime and dance, the duo Gabez cause chaos as soon as they step on stage, capering around inflicting slapstick violence on each other. The duo have superb timing, from their Matrix-style slow-motion sequences to rescuing their rubber duck’s ‘voice’; and the audience are very much up for participating in the silliness. Just as well, since there’s lots of opportunities as Masa and Hitoshi spill out into the Assembly Studio to get us involved. At one point, Hitoshi popped up sitting next to us which gave my partner quite a surprise!
Since there’s no language barrier, the humour is suitable for all ages – the eager children who ended up on stage to settle the ‘marching’ debate were delighted to whoop and holler along, directing Masa to hunt down his wayward companion. There’s some great improvisation as well when the audience yells out. We certainly left with our cheeks hurting from laughing so much.
Live Manga will appeal to young and old with its madcap skits and cartoonish style – be sure to catch them on their short Fringe run while you can!
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