The Village
Freedumb
takes a journey through a community of oddities in their newest sketch show.
Of
the whole village-full of characters in “It Takes A Village Idiot,” sketch
comedy group Freedumb’s amusing new show at the People’s Improv Theater, those
portrayed by Allen Warnock truly stand out.
Warnock creates a variety of inspired oddity in characters like a primal West
Virginian, a lunatic yoga teacher, and the whimpering host of a public access
cable poetry show. Freedumb’s material is not dominated by Warnock, but
definitely burns a little brighter when he’s in the spotlight of a sketch.
The group -- Andrea Alton, Robin Gelfenbein, David Spiecher, Theron Steiner,
Warnock and Marshall York -- all are credited with writing the sketches. There
are a couple uneven pieces, but these are fewer in number than those that work
well.
A “tunic party” of college boys with upper-crust accents devolves as they scare
off the girls. The aforementioned West Virginian sketch, which also featured
Andrea Alton, plays off their contrasting recollections of sex in a similar
style to previous material these performers have done as part of the Manhattan
Comedy Collective. And Marshall York’s turn playing a son coming out to his
parents at the Thanksgiving table proves priceless because of the collective
work of the group, and a perfectly timed punch line from Spiecher as his
brother.
Freedumb’s show closing sketch, the poetry TV show, finds distinct characters
brought together in skilled writing, as Gelfenbein plays up her hair-chewing
nerd and York becomes the most over-dramatic of the poets. Even in a more
equally weighted piece like this though, Warnock gets the most laughs with an
ode to Alf and Punky Brewster.
Freedumb perform “It Takes A Village Idiot” at 7 p.m. Mondays, June 19 and 26
at the People’s Improv Theater.
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