Whether Robyn Scott and Bill Larkin are acting like an over-the-top, plastic-y 1950s sitcom couple or poking fun at the outrageousness of uber-feminists, they keep the jokes punchy, quick-witted and smart. In their new sketch comedy show, they comment on the ridiculousness of "celebrity" in American culture.
Getting right to the point, Scott and Larkin start things off with the 1950s sitcom couple; the man is a complete prick, making comments that his stupid wife is usually too slow to pick-up on. But their little television show is really just an extended advertisement for Fluff, a gross marshmallow-goo concoction that comes in a jar and resembles thick, white semen. This calls to mind the blatant infiltration of product placement into television and film. The ridiculous couple makes a number of appearances throughout the show, carrying the fluff theme—both literally and metaphorically—to the end.
After the initial skit establishing theme and tone, things just get funnier. Audience participation takes center-stage in a sketch about meeting people off the internet for a blind date, only to find that the two who didn't actually mean to meet have an intense animal attraction that just can't wait. The brave audience-member volunteers can only sit on-stage and watch in horror as their dates do each other in the Applebee's bathroom. And in a sketch about those horrible shows where a cowboy and a puppet read to an audience of little kids, the shaggy orange puppet—whose giant eyes never close, only heightening his intensity—confronts his co-host with accusations of sleeping with the puppeteer. After all, they were the first puppet-person relationship to "go public."
Something else to watch for is just how wide and crazy Larkin's eyes are in practically every skit. Just looking at his facial expressions will leave you doubled over, laughing and, eventually, crying. That said, do we even need to say that "Mere Fluff" exceeds its moniker?
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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