The Brothers Not-So-Grimm
The Sklars take
advantage of twin-hood to add dimensions to their stand-up
Photo
by Pamela Littky
The Sklar Brothers, twins who have performed stand-up comedy together
for many years, and seen at Comix July 16, truly entertain with a
rapid-fire succession of short bits including a generous helping of pop
culture observations.
Randy and Jason have something of a mind-meld going – finishing each
other’s sentences at times, talking over each other competitively at
others, but all at the service of their collective material. The
brothers also give each other comedic punctuation in some of their
pieces, as in a long story mocking Andrew “Dice” Clay where they
alternated on an impersonation – with one delivering a typical “Dice”
line and the other finishing it with a “Dice”-like “Oaoh!”
Their alternating delivery is also effective at giving a unique
dimension to other pieces. In one, they recount a “ripped from the
headlines” story of another set of male twins, one of whom had a botched
circumcision as a baby. His parents and doctors agreed to raise him as a
girl, for more than 10 years, until they realized what a terrible
mistake that was, after the boy was picked on constantly. The Sklars’
take is that it would be worse to be the healthy twin – because then you
can never complain about anything. Playing out this hypothetical, Randy
complains about having to wait in a long line at the bank, and Jason
says, “Oh, you had to wait a long time for something, huh? I remember
having to wait a long time for something too – having my penis
reconstructed – that was a long wait!”
These were actually a couple of the – pardon the phrasing – longer bits
of the show. The Sklars tallied, at my count, 22 separate fully formed
pieces in an hour-long show, hitting on the aforementioned pop culture
topics like the Kardashians, the documentary TV series “Hoarders,”
Arnold Schwarzenegger potentially going back to action movies, and Pizza
Hut commercials. In these and others, the Sklars love to launch into
hypothetical scenarios to drive home their points – like imagining what
some of Arnold’s catchphrases could be in movies now, or playing out
other ways Pizza Hut’s hidden camera crews would deceive Italians into
thinking their pasta was homemade and that good.
A
few of the pieces were quick and to the point, while others found the
Sklars reveling in the topic at hand. Both are fathers, and they
describe re-encountering nursery rhymes now, and realizing how absurd
they are. The Sklars had fun with this one, riffing on a few different
tales, including “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Snow White.” All
together, they kept a constant pace, whether the pieces were short or
long, and work together so intimately and innately, all at the service
of a distinct comic vision.
The Sklar Brothers perform again twice tonight, Saturday, July 17 at
Comix.
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