Mischief Movie Night - Arts / Tour / The Other Palace

Oh, so you were near the Shrek couple!

Yes, next to them. It's not the first time that's happened though, it's at least the 3rd time I've witnessed. And when it doesn't happen Jonathan usually refers to it anyway. Goodness knows why so many people seem to want to insult each other!


It is indeed blank. The Times review gave that away at the start of the run. www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theatre-review-mischief-movie-night-at-the-arts-theatre-wc2-pc9jdmk8j

londonmzfitz You did decide that one visit wasn't enough then! I'm guessing it would have been less tear-jerking than the original Bambi film, or at least tears of laughter instead.

Sci-fi seems to be a popular genre this run. The guy with the curls is Josh Elliott. I guess you won't have seen him before as he only does the improv shows with Mischief. You'll have to bring them with you to the last show, if there are still tickets left.

Ha ha, yes, I was also at "Jenny Goes Down." I went this second time, since Dawnstar demonstrated that Mischief aren't actually just doing the same show every night.

"Jenny Goes Down" was not in the same league as the previous show I saw, "T Vet," because the storytelling went "wrong". . . which was illuminating and sort of perfect in a way.

Whereas T Vet was a perfect example of genre storytelling, "Jenny goes Down" involved copious preparations for a mutiny aboard a pirate ship that then was completely (and amusingly, in an Ed Wood inept storytelling way) forgotten about, as the story progressed to a search for treasure at the end of a rainbow instead.

Once the Mischief Theatre storytelling went wrong, the Mischief Team hilariously seemed to lose their bearings entirely, as they briefly abandoned their usual family show schtick for something a little more pornographic, involving Henry Shields' pirate captain getting "splinters" in his member, which he mimed poking into through a "hole" in the good ship Jenny. Henry Lewis' Pushing Jim finally understood what was "dripping" through his "ceiling!"

I love the way Henry Lewis' voice is so like an engine, booming and revving and constantly changing gears!

I also love the shrieking Norman Wisdom-like enthusiasm, and faux shock, of Jonathan Sayers, as Oscar, when the story goes so heinously wrong like this.

Josh Elliot was a scream, his wry matter of fact tone conveying a kind of bemusement at being trapped in a story of such unstoppable bizarreness!

And as Shoeshaa, the pirate who gives everyone else shoeshines, but otherwise seems in a totally different story, Dave Hearns was his delightful loveable usual self.

It was great to meet Dawnstar and learn a ton of things about the Mischief Troupe, and I thank her for chronicling this wonderful ensemble for us!

3 and a half stars for "Jenny Goes Down."

Tonight's show was a mafia movie set (partly) on a bouncy castle: "The Bouncer". I now want all improv shows to include a bouncy castle scene! The sight of Henry S & Dave bouncing up & down for several minutes was priceless! The plot was R&J-esque: boy (Henry L) & girl (Charlie) fall in love but their fathers (Henry S & Josh) are rival bouncy castle company owners, one of who (Henry S) will do anything to have a business monopoly. Who knew the children's party business was so competative?! Highlights included the 6-person piggyback bouncy castle, the Hamiltonesque rap song, Charlie & Henry L dancing to Josh's Barry White number, & Ellie as a rabbit calling for back-up but none appearing as everyone was already in the scene! Lowlight: Dave gratuitously murdering a rabbit by stamping on it. He later tried to murder Charlie too but that got less of a reaction. None of this sort of stuff happened with Max!!

Annoying man in the audience who kept shouting stuff out during the show. I wish self-publicising people wouldn't take the request ro make suggestions at the start of a show as licence to then annoy everyone else for the rest of the show.

@eldermillan Yes, I should be there, assuming no flu or snow get in the way. Half my office seem to have been coughing & sneezing all week so I am praying that I don't catch anything for another 10 days. After 29th January I don't care what I go down with! (Before anyone corrects me, yes I know MMN finishes on 27th but there's Showstopper on 29th before I get an improv break.)

Really sorry but I didn't manage to spot you. I arrived not long before it started, having been dashing round seeing Lumiere installations between shows, & afterwards I looked for Hamilton bags but didn't see any.

Today's shows round-up:

4pm "Cake Fu" a kung fu movie set in the Great British Bake Off tent. Absolutely loved it! Definitely one of my favourites of the run. I now want Mischief Theatre to take over GBBO for real! Favourite character has to be Dave as cake fu baker Jin Jun Sun (sp?), combining Max-imum adorableness with great kung fu moves. (I may have even forgiven him for Thursday's rabbit!) Highlights included Jonathan confessing he'd never seen GBBO & getting roundly booed, Ellie as Mary Berry embracing cake fu, Henry L trying to do Bollywood dancing on a box & falling off, & Charlie having yet another famous aunt.

7.45pm "The Secret Life Of Brian" a spy movie set in Prague & Swindon. Whoever gave Mischief Theatre a portable smoke machine, I want a word: Henry S nearly asphyxiated most of the audience! Highlights included Dave as villain Captain Handshanks who had knives for fingers, the car chase, some great musical numbers, & the finale which ended up with up to a sextuple agent!

9.15pm "Can You Dig It?" (or possibly "Can They Dig It" or some other pronoun, my brain's going) a Western set in a coal mine. I think Dave may win favourite character again, as mine supervisor Jacobs who was desparate to keep his hi-vis jacket! Highlights included the breakdancing, especially Henry L & Henry S's attempts (the latter, as he staggered to his feet, groaned something to the effect of "Who knew breakdancing could hurt your balls so much"!), Harry as Jeanine, with her repeated insistances she was a beautiful woman (think Trevor as Florence!), & the "Bottom of a Mine" rock number.

I'd agree that it wasn't one of the best I've seen. My favourite of the 3 yesterday was the 4pm show. But then that's improv, they can't all be equally good. Yes, one of my favourite things of this whole run is having seen Jonathan as part of the main group several times. They swapped back again for the 9.15pm show so yesterday was the first time Oscar was Jonathan - Henry L - Jonathan as the previous Saturdays have all be either Jonathan - Jonathan - Henry L or Jonathan all 3. (Yes, almost certainly no-one other than me is interested in this minutiae!)

Loved this. Tonight we got a heist in a doughnut factory in a movie called Too Many Holes. Featuring zip-wiring, a turtle called Gerald, and an interlude of a silent movie set in a swimming pool. I can also confirm that Jonathan was Oscar tonight! As good as the rest of the cast were, it was his pauses, rewinds and commentary that really made it.

So, who's going to be there for the last day? I probably don't need to bother saying that I'll be at all 3!

londonmzfitz Are you just coming to the 9.15pm or will you be at the earlier ones?