2 LEGS AND A CANE
Not that you can’t hear the whistle blow every so often. There’s a Little Engine That Can hidden here somewhere in the mists that envelop this show. It might turn out to be worth seeing, if it can only find itself first.
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Described as “a comic look at the most intense relationships that humans can possibly have,” 2 Legs and a Cane consists of 21 skits about parents, children, lovers, spouses, and a medieval potato farmer named Honorable Jones. Five of the nine ensemble members, including director Noah Gregoropoulos, have studied the Harold–Del Close’s long-form improv style, in which a series of premises are combed out and braided together until they coalesce into some kind of extended, unified work–so it’s not surprising to find most of the skits connecting up with each other. Early on, we meet the Wilson family–Mom, Dad, and Scooter–as they move into their dream house, only to find weird Jimmy already living there. Several subsequent encounters with the Wilsons show them playing suburban Romanovs to Jimmy’s bland Rasputin.
If it were up to me, I’d jettison the bachelor-party scene, and the “Family Tree” song, too. I’d get rid of that pointless steal from Sexual Perversity in Chicago, along with that idiotic little business about a couple of bickering roommates. I’d drop Honorable Jones for sure. I’d eliminate just about everything, in fact, but the Wilson stuff and a certain skit–the show’s other honest-to-God original comic creation–where Grandma’s done in by a gang of malicious furniture. Then I’d take the leftover pieces and set about weaving them into a sharp 60 minutes. That’s what I’d do.
