Review: Muu-Muus & Girls Drinks
Acme Comedy Theatre, 5124 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, 818-753-0650
by Terese Willis
The Acme Comedy Theatre’s latest offering is Muu-Muus and Girl Drinks, a quick-fire round of eighteen tight comedy sketches, performed by the sharpest shooters in town. If you haven’t checked out this bunch yet, you’re missing out on a uniquely sardonic look at life as we know it.
The spoof choices are refreshingly original. The show was written by the cast, and their performances are as deft as their pens. John McCann’s “Presentation Sunday” socks it to the much-lampooned Catholic church. McCann depicts a decrepit priest controlling a children’s presentation with an embittered hand, leaving no doubt as to why the term “Recovering Catholic” has worked its way into our vernacular. McCann also gives us a retired Marine insurance salesman who sells by intimidation in “Marine Insurance.” Lisa Malone’s writing and performance contributions are varied and top-notch. My favorite is “Different, But Okay,” a send-up of the schmaltzy After-School Specials.
Musical Director Jonathan Green deserves mention for his to-the-tee satire of inane TV background music.
Everyone involved in this show deserves mention. I regret that space doesn’t permit. But I must throw one in for Founder/Producer/Director M.D. Sweeney. Honing the output of a group of such wildly creative people into a seamless show is no small task. Sweeney is doing something right. Something that allows cutting edge comedy to emerge.
Though two or three of the pieces didn’t hit the mark, an amazing percentage of the work was excellent. You don’t get those odds too often in this form of performance—not at the Groundlings—not on Saturday Night Live.
The only negative notice for the evening is for all the would-be Acme patrons that spend their weekend nights elsewhere. The turn-out was dismal. Hello? North Hollywood? There’s brilliance in your backyard. Step out and take a look.♦