Miriam Trujillo
There are many weird things going on at Fringe… but I think I found the weirdest so far. Deep in the dark, twisted bowels of Banshee Labyrinth pub, there lies a 1am. game show you have to see to believe. Pasta Piñata is an hour of contests, theme songs, games, and jokes that sounds like it should be extremely shit. However the three performers Joe Smith, Harris Morris, and Sam Dodgshon sell their act so brilliantly that I was laughing, jumping up to participate, and wondering if I’d slipped into some alternate plane of reality. Sanity didn’t exist anymore, but balls-to-the-wall good times were at full throttle in this new dimension.
The games in Pasta Piñata were all very simple and silly. There was a knockoff version of family feud, various guessing games, and a strange competition to see who wore a pair of sunglasses better. Then, of course, there was “the game of games” where an audience member was chosen to hack open a plastic piñata full of cooked pasta. Then we all sang “My Way” by Frank Sinatra while Morris showered the us with raw pasta. Once again, none of what went on in Pasta Piñata sounds like a proper a theatre experience at all…but it was. The theme tunes for every game, the riotous crowd participation, and the jokes and quips from the lad turned this homemade game show into an immersive, chaotic experience I didn’t want to end. It was easily the most fun I’ve had at the Fringe.
Smith, Morris, and Dodgshon worked the crowd like experts. If you went it, thinking you could just sit quietly in a corner all night…you wouldn’t want to once the show really got moving. The three performers got to know their audience, traded quips with them, remembering people’s names, and building rapport all night long. Essentially, they shaped the show around the audience, letting the quirks of the 1am crowd play as big a part in the show as anything they had planned. The audience ate it up. People were chanting, shouting suggestions and returning to the show from previous nights. The humour of the three performers was infectious, and that more than anything kept the show rolling.
Interactive shows are a tricky act. I’ve been to my fair share where it felt like the audience volunteers were put on the spot and sometimes even humiliated for the sake of the joke. Shows that rely on audience participation can also come across as a bit desperate at times, subliminally begging the audience to like the act. Like a needy relationship, shows like that tend to alienate rather than pull guests in. Pasta Piñata is nothing like that. Pasta Piñata is confident in its interactive bits It curated an atmosphere where everyone felt welcome and in on the joke. Everyone was put at ease and participating actually felt like fun.
Honestly, Pasta Piñata felt less like a show and more like a party: so blurred were the lines between audience and performers, entertainment and entertained. It wasn’t a show, it was a club. So, if you head down to Banshee Labyrinth in the dead of night and hear the sounds of nonsense songs…welcome to the club.
Pair this with: a Bloody Mary…but spaghetti o’s instead of tomato juice.
Catch Pasta Piñata at Banshee Labyrinth every night at 1:15 am from now until the 24th. The show is part of PBH Free Fringe: entry is free but a donation is appreciated.
Jake Mace
