Review: THE WIZARDS OF ODD at The Joint Theater

My favorite comedians, The Main Thing Comedy Trio, at The Joint Comedy Theatre, 301 Main Street, in North Little Rock, are at it again for the month of June. Now on their 12th anniversary of performing at The Joint, they bring to the stage THE WIZARDS OF ODD, which is a cornucopia of various sketch scenes that will have you laughing all night. Grab your tickets at thejointargenta.com before they sell out, or reserve your tickets by call their box office at (501)626-7181. 

Steve Farrell, along with his wife Vicki and Brett Ihler are pros when it comes to making the audience laugh. Before the showtime, they greet you and chat you up to get whatever information they can to use during the show. No one is safe. You never know who or where they are going to incorporate into their routine.  

For this particular show, the trio opened with The Wizards of Odd Theme Song, set to a funky groove with Brett on lead vocals. These world class comedians not only make you laugh, but they are excellent musicians. Steve’s guitar abilities equal his comedic writing. I love watching him play. Brett jams out on the electric bass and Vicki keeps the beat on the drums. I’ve yet to see them dance, but I’m sure even if they didn’t have the skill, they’d make it hilarious.  

Before they start on their four-part series of Life with the Hoggs, Uncle Dan comes out to do a furniture commercial about a vibrating chair. Many of Steve’s characters are memorable, and Uncle Dan is a fan favorite. As he sells his furniture, he uses movement and phrasing that keeps you giggling and ready to buy whatever he is selling. Before the skit was over, the audience was cheering for Uncle Dan.  

Then they began the first of four skits of Life with the Hoggs. In scene one Gene (Steve Farrell) has a birthday and his kids want him to move into a retirement facility with golfing. He doesn’t want to go, but when the recruiter tells him that he already has a friend there, he agrees. In part two, Gene is already settled into the retirement home and rekindles his friendship with his friend. Also, the iconic Doc Moore pays a visit to the family. During part three, the kids tell Gene that they can’t afford the facility anymore, even though he loves it there. However, the rich girlfriend of the slacker musician son agrees to pay for his stay as long as she can be part of the family. And, in part four, Gene and his friends are having a meeting and ate some brownies that were mixed with pot. At the end, the facility has a variety show and Doc Moore sings a crowd favorite We Should Live Together. 

Laced into this family saga are other skits and songs to keep the laughs going. They advertise the Belt Buckle Beer Alarm for when your gut is too big for anymore beer. The also talk about Odoroo Deodorant, a comprehensive pregnancy test, and ad for clothes. One of my favorite skits is when all three come out during a press conference for a Presidential candidate. Here, Vicki takes random questions from the audience, the candidate (Steve) gives an inappropriate answer, and Brett translates it into a more politically correct answer.  I honestly wish that one lasted a little longer with better questions from the audience, but...whatever.  

The shocker skit that was surprisingly touching was called The Window where Ruth and Albert are a married couple but are a little disenchanted. When Albert looks out the window, he sees a single guy (evidently in an alternate universe) living a bachelor life and doing whatever he wants without being nagged all the time. When the single guy looks through the window, he sees a loving couple who have each other for company. The two guys switch places and are happy for a while until they are not, but then Ruth breaks the window and places the window on a different wall. There, they both see a life they would rather have. Though a lot of this particular one was funny, it was also pretty thought provoking. I wasn’t expecting that.  

After this month, the trio will rehearse for an August show entitled Electile Dysfunction where they promise to be an equal opportunity offender to every political preference. It’s going to be hilarious. 

Before they left the stage, Brett talked about the Improv troupe that has been in rotating performance for 20 years. Comparable to Whose Line is It Anyway, the group allows the audience to help choose what the improvers will do. This happens every Wednesday night. I have yet to see it, but I plan on making another trip in the near future to catch these performers.  

The Joint has a packed schedule year-round, so visit their website at thejointargenta.com to see what’s going on.  

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