Apr 24, 2016 Theatre
What does it take to become the Greatest Of All Time? With G.O.A.T, young comedy up-and-comers Frickin Dangerous Bro – comprised of Jamaine Ross, James Roque & Pax Assadi – endeavor to find out.
Peering at their set list just off-stage, and often beginning a sketch with “Shall we just launch into the next one?” the proceedings are deliberately informal, and the sketches, though rehearsed, leave room for the boys to make (and hilariously acknowledge) mistakes.
Roque repeatedly disrupts sketches by sitting in the wrong chair. Characters who are meant to be dead occasionally forget this fact and get up again. The boys all agree that they struggle to decide how to end sketches.
If this sounds disorganised, then be assured it isn’t. The natural chemistry between Ross, Roque and Assadi make idiosyncrasies G.O.A.T’s strength rather than its weakness, and they are reminiscent of Key and Peele in their clear amusement at one another.
The comedy here is refreshingly good-natured: seemingly delinquent schoolboys debate the merits of Romeo and Juliet; a pirate goes for a job interview; a fortune teller deals racist tarot cards.
Ross, known for his writing and performances on the sometimes slightly-too-laddish Jono and Ben, is a standout. With gentle but pointed humour addressing race, gender and their own ethnic backgrounds, Ross, Roque and Assadi succeed in subverting the white boys club that often dominates New Zealand comedy.
G.O.A.T is charmingly unaffected, hilariously spontaneous and, yes, pretty damn great.
G.O.A.T, April 23-30, Studio at Basement Theatre. Book tickets.
Edited 24/04/16 to correct spelling of “frickin”.
