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Gearbox
Remaining Performances:
Tuesday, July 15th at 6:15 p.m.
Saturday, July 19th at 7:00 p.m.
Friday, July 25th at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 26th at 8:15 p.m.
They Say: The personnel of the Sunshine Station Joiceville 101.3 are totally not making a social commentary or parody of the unlikely events regarding the end of days. Consistency, integrity and cupcakes are the core values of any respectable radio station.
Marshall’s Take: There is hardly a moment of silence during Joiceville 101.3 LIVE. Its cast slings joke after joke with such speed, you begin to wonder if the three cups of flour on the table is actually the cocaine they make it out to be. At that speed, it hardly makes a difference when jokes fall flat, because the next one is almost done.
Joiceville 101.3 LIVE is a prequel to the webseries Excuse Me, and both are written and directed by Rodrigo G. Pool Arce, who also appears as an actor. The bond between Acre and castmates Carrie Helton Parsons and Will MacLeod keeps the show in constant movement. Their rapid-fire repartee is almost effortless. It is only delayed when Joiceville 101.3 strays into its improvisational segments. Though audience suggestions were limited to one audience member and the suggestions were only followed for a couple of lines at most, the cast had difficulty fitting them into their otherwise well-oiled machine.
This show requires a certain type of humor, primarily for drugs. Drugs seen on stage include marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, LSD, crystal meth, and a myriad of nondescript prescription drugs. Jokes revolved around special brownies, dyslexia, substance abuse, stroke victims, drug dealing, and accents. Acre deserves special praise for being the only cast member to show any sign in their acting that the ludicrous amount of drug use had an effect lasting past the punchline.
The plot revolves around the cast being too intoxicated or self-centered to pay attention to the world literally ending around them. The world-building (or otherwise) is a highlight: the ominous Blind Corp., plentiful code words, the unraveling of civil society. That story is begging to escape the confines of the Weather & Traffic segment. Unfortunately, we’re locked in the recording booth with Joiceville 101.3 LIVE.
See it if: You are a fan of Excuse Me.
Skip it if: You don’t want to catch yourself rooting for the world to end.