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  Art Murmurs - Wellington Reviews

Reviews

IDIOM 2022

5/12/2022

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Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin

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Hosted and created by the one and only, unabashed, cucumber-fueled, award-winning comedy circus power trio that is Laser Kiwi, as seen on stage, screen, streets and theatres around Aotearoa. Famous for their unique style of surreal sketch circus, a combination which has taken them around the world multiple times.
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There’s a lot to be said about a great variety show and there’s a reason IDIOM is so well known. I’ve seen Laser Kiwi shows before but never an IDIOM and after tonight it’s fair to say that these guys are putting their stamp on the Wellington scene. Variety shows should offer a broad variety of creative skills to catch glimpses of, and each demonstration should be an accurate emulation of what you could expect from a longer form from the performer/s.  IDIOM does this with style, more than once pairing individual acts together, having them showcase skills in tandem and creating beautiful states of cohesion from two crafts you wouldn’t think to normally mix. A personal favourite of mine is Ingbal Megiddo as an expert cello player performing besides Matthias Goed’s bowling ball balancing act. There are also moments afforded to each performer to let their skill alone do the talking, Megiddo’s playing is also given the entire stage without another performer so that the audience experience no distraction from their sound. The Laser Kiwi trio really know how to prioritise what’s important.

The performers for the evening were Erik the Dog (Australia), Jair Ramerez (Colombia), Goed (New Zealand), Tabitha Dombroski (New Zealand), Thomas Friggins (Not Stated), Yufeng Wang (New Zealand), Joel Salom (Not Stated) and Megiddo (Not Stated). Stretching from cello and Rolla Bola (The name used for a particular style of balancing act) as mentioned before, to stand-up comedy by a mechanical dog and a live ping-pong best of five competition, the show covers a wide range of crafts. 

Erik the Dog was an odious character, flirting with the audience in an Australian workmans-pub sort of way: 
“What dog do you have?” 
“A Japanese Spitz!” the audience member calls out. 
“I knew a girl that did that.” responds Erik. 
Ramerez is a true highlight with their aerial straps routine bringing risk and beauty so effortlessly to such a large space, IDIOM is worth seeing for their talents alone. Dombroski trained in Germany and New Zealand and as well as performing solo, also has a scene of reciprocative listening with drummer Thomas Friggins. With Friggins on his elaborate instrument (I can only describe as an assorted mix of hanging things like beads and shells and cymbals and a metal coil. I’m sorry Thomas, I feel like I can see you shaking your head as I write this…) and Dombroski improvising their ballet, both performers listen and trust each other through a scene and arrive at an ending together - non-verbally! 

A change of pace from the intimate and beautiful we have Joel Salom who has got to be one of the most charismatic performers I’ve ever seen. His juggling routine left me wanting so much more and really has to be seen by all. Finally, I want to give special mention to the live best-of-five ping-pong competition that Laser Kiwi held on stage in the second-half of the show. The two players are Wang and Yang and it’s really that simple, and with some hype from the Laser Kiwi team, the crowd really got amongst it. There is cheering, yelling, screaming. These two are really good at ping-pong and it was awesome to see them go for it. 

Perhaps in the future the show could come with a physical or, more ideally, a digital booklet that you could access from your phone (perhaps via a QR code on the back of the Yang/Wang papers that were handed out as people entered the theatre?) that gives people more information about each performer or any upcoming events.

IDIOM is on at Te Auaha until the 23rd December and you can find more info here. 

If you would like to have a say in the future of reviewing in Wellington or if you have an opinion on how we run things at Art Murmurs then sign up for the TABS workshops being held on the 14th and 15th of December at BATS Theatre.
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