Review by Stephanie Lee
Musical comedy duo Mel and Sam are back with a brand-new show for this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival and it is high-energy camp in its most brilliantly unhinged form. The show is a non-stop laugh fest with mini-skits and plenty of downright hilarious musical numbers along the way.
‘THE PLATONIC HUMAN CENTIPEDE’, which is firstly a fantastic name for this show, is about human connection in its many different forms and specifically focuses on duos (much like Mel and Sam themselves). It features skits and musical numbers about several iconic pairs including a couples counselling session between Mr and Mrs Claus that ends with Nick just wanting separation between work and home life and left me honestly crying with laughter. Although their show covers so many wildly differing segments, it somehow is seamlessly tied together and the connection between the material makes sense. How you fit musical numbers about a board game destroying friendship, Willy Wonka being Charlie Bucket’s ultimate ally, and Bindi and Robert Irwin asking their dad to check if Britney Spears is in heaven all into one show is genuinely beyond me. Yet somehow it is just the right level of chaos and organisation tied up into one neat little package of laughs. Perhaps the best part are the introductions, which are voice recordings of their dads introducing each section to the audience.
Mel and Sam are clearly very witty writers, their lyrics are so cleverly crafted without a single line wasted and the music will leave you wanting an album of their show. My favourite number of the night is a tie between the banger for soft girls and the song about fucking a mid theatre boy. It is also clear that they are both engaged and very talented performers, as being able to pull off such a high paced show with as much charisma and ease as they did is no simple feat. These are two performers at the top of their game and are definitely ones to keep a close eye on in the future.
If you enjoy campy music theatre numbers with choreography for flair and outrageously funny skits about Simpsons characters going hat shopping, then you would be silly to miss this show. You will start laughing a minute in and probably won’t stop until you get halfway home. I cannot stress enough how lucky you will be to catch Mel and Sam, so run to grab tickets to ‘THE PLATONIC HUMAN CENTIPEDE’!
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