The ‘Santiago Sent Us’ tour was billed as the biggest and best-ever show by comedy quartet, The Impractical Jokers. But in practice, it didn’t reach the heights of its own hype.
Were the Jokers surprised or intimidated by selling out four dates at the O2 Arena? An over-rehearsed script gave the gig a gimmicky feel, almost as if the promotional team had advised a world tour to capitalise on their success in 2016; but without much consideration of how to translate quirky comedy into mainstream venues.
Joe Gatto, Sal Vulcano, James ‘Murr’ Murray and Brian ‘Q’ Quinn had a great stage presence, commanding every inch of the stage. The main failing was the scarcity of new content – although the new stuff that did appear, was the highlight of the evening.
As The Tenderloins they also produce a podcast titled ‘What Say You?’ At this gig, if you shut your eyes and drifted off, it sounded a lot like one of their podcasts, with the stories and gags nothing new for a loyal fan. Also, the atmosphere inside the Dome was little to write home about; many of the audience were fiddling with their phones rather than watching the performance.
At times, it could have been a university lecture: no atmosphere, no laughing, awkward silences (surely some mistake – Ed).
I preferred the warm-up guy to the main act. Owen Benjamin performed comedic songs about Millennials, Starbucks and Millennials stuck in Starbucks, before going to prove that all ‘classic’ Coldplay numbers really do sound the same.
By the end of the night, it had turned into more a promotional appearance. Less gags, more focus on The Impractical Jokers’ upcoming television show and the ‘2017 summer cruise gig’, which you won’t know the price of until you’ve bought a ticket. Outrageous!
Of course my reaction will not have been improved by having someone sit next to me who was reciting the script, just a second ahead of time, all the time. But how come she had it off pat, anyway? Unless the show itself lacked that unpredictable element which is surely crucial to live comedy.
Maybe the only practical thing is for these Jokers to stick to TV.