Many years ago, when I was around 7 years old, my father took me to pick out my Halloween costume. Past years had been brilliant: My My Little Pony ensemble had the neighbors cooing at 6, and at the age of 5, I had donned a Garfield costume and spent the entire evening walking [...]
Many years ago, when I was around 7 years old, my father took me to pick out my Halloween costume. Past years had been brilliant: My My Little Pony ensemble had the neighbors cooing at 6, and at the age of 5, I had donned a Garfield costume and spent the entire evening walking around my brother’s Halloween party on the floor meowing at guests. This was years before I even knew who Daniel Day-Lewis was, mind you. But this year, at 7, I went in a new direction. There, at Toys R’ Us, I found it: The Pee Wee Herman Costume. For only $19.99, you got a one-piece polyester smock printed to look like his signature grey suit with red bow tie, and plastic
mask with that trademarked frozen grin underneath tiny, pin-sized eyeholes. It was adorable, and more importantly, highly flammable. I am also not going to pretend that I didn’t spend the night doing his laugh, because that would be a downright lie. Needless to say, it was many years before I had what would commonly be referred to as a “friend.”
Now, over 20 years later (kill me), the world has finally come full circle. Because last night, I attended The Pee Wee Herman Show, Paul Reubens’ masterful revival of both Pee Wee’s Playhouse and earlier live material, now playing through Feb. 7 at Club Nokia @ L.A. LIVE.
And let me assure you: By attending this show, every childhood and, admit it, adult fantasy you’ve ever had of being invited into Pee Wee’s acid trip of hilarity fun house will come true. Before the show even began, the energy in the theater was manic. I saw at least 4 elderly women donning Pee Wee costumes, and plenty of off-the-wall looking audience members standing alongside more suburban looking moms holding Pee Wee dolls. Together, we the audience would join forces in recreating some of our most palpable television memories from the 1980s.
The Pee Wee Herman Show and director Alex Timbers has spared absolutely no detail. We were in the second row, and the first moment you lay eyes on the man himself, you can’t help but notice: The man looks exactly f**king the same. Exactly. the. same. In other words, absolutely adorable with a Pollock-like personality smattering of something very clearly twisted inside.
And then the curtain lifted. And the set was revealed. And magic. The Magic Came Back.
We were in the Playhouse.
It’s hard to write this review without spoiling the many surprises that happen throughout the show, so I’ll try my best to be as vague as possible.
To begin, you will not stop laughing for even a moment. I snuck glances around the audience during certain moments, and the unbridled glee I was met with very nearly blinded me. Have you ever done acid? Me neither. Until last night. It felt like the walls were melting.
Almost every single beloved character was back: Jambi, Chairry, Clockey, Conky, Globey, Randy, Mr. Window, Magic Screen, and Pterri, forever my favorite, though it was sort of obvious that his signature French accent had turned into an altogether different dialect. The 90 minute show vacillated between a slew of old school Playhouse references and newer, darker, modern content, some twisted, some dirty, some downright absurd. There was a 3 minute bit involving a single balloon that was more of a post-modern performance art piece, and without a doubt had me laughing the hardest of anything in the show.
Oh, the humans were back too. Cowboy Curtis (looking less Lawrence Fishburne-y and more That Guy on MadTV-ey), Miss Yvonne (who despite looking actually her age — a shocking thing to see on stage — is still the most beautiful woman in Puppetland… and quite the flirt, as always), and the King of Cartoons (fly as ever). Those of you hoping for an S. Epatha Merkerson cameo will be slightly disappointed to find out her Reba the Mail Lady has been replaced by actor John Moody as Mailman Mike. Your disappointment will be short-lived, though, when you learn that Moody has served as a gag writer for Jackie Chan.
The humor throughout the show for the most part was top notch, the dialogue rife with PeeWeeisms, the visual gags cracking the bat out of the park. The feel of the show is twisted, absurd, at times damaged, and then glazed over with every psychedelic color of a happy universe. Here and there were a few jokes or ideas that felt a little forced, but this is like finding a flaw in the Hope Diamond, i.e. something only an assh*le would do. A running gag involving infomercials and As Seen on TV products had some surreal moments (yes, Chairry wears a Bump-It), but also felt kind of tacked on at other times (literally, in the case of the Bedazzler bit).
And, it is worth mentioning that Jambi’s entire character was way ahead of his time. Face this fact. Oh, and if you’re like me and spent the better part of the show thinking that the hunky fireman looked way too much like Seth Meyers to be a coincidence, good news! It’s his brother, Mad TV’s Josh Meyers.
There’s even a new character! Sergio, Pee Wee’s spicy Latin handyman, whose resemblance to Luigi from Super Mario Brother’s has got to be more than just coincidence.
Physically, the years have been kind to Paul Reubens; emotionally, we can only hope this show has brought him back to his brilliant comedic roots. The man is genius, stuff of legend, and has found a way, perhaps through laying low and the passing of time, to reemerge like a cryogenically frozen Walt Disney out of the icy ashes, and somehow come out on top. We can only pray and hope he keeps it up, so that our own kids will have their first acid flashback at 8 years old like we did.
If you do get a chance to see the show, and anyone within a 1000 mile radius has no excuse not to, try getting as close to the stage as possible. What never stopped amazing me and my guest that night (you know him as Ben from the Bsideblog) were the slight nuances in all of the characters, human or otherwise. Reubens’ own acting was impeccable; every slight wince, or grin, or carefully calculated face was on point. But who really stole the show for us was Chairry, who has become slightly more cynical these past 20 years. Her giant chair eyes and armrest arms are literally die laughing funny, and she is truly alive the entire show, not just when the spotlight is on her. Same for the flowers.
After the epicness of the show, I had the opportunity to meet the original Jambi, John Paragon. A good friend of mine from college grew up next door to him, meaning, in other words, I had the perfect Jambi icebreaker. This is by far the best Hollywood related thing to ever be given to me.
If you were worried, don’t be: The Pee Wee Herman Show spares ZERO detail. We’ll just go ahead and assume Floory was killed in some sort of freak buffing accident.
Fans of the show, buy your tickets now. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
From L to R: Myself, Jambi (John Paragon), and Yahoo’s Lyndsey Parker and Matt Whitfield.
“The Pee-wee Herman Show” is now performing at Club Nokia @ L.A. LIVE for a limited 4-week engagement, through February 7. Tickets on sale through Ticketmaster
by calling 1-800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com (Show photo credits: Ed Krieger; Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)
Source: www.bestweekever.tv
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