Karamazov Brothers cater 'Room Service' to audience with flying colors

Published: Tuesday, November 25, 1997

Tuesday, November 25, 1997

THEATER: Slapstick grace, attention-grabbing tactics keep spectators on toes

By Kristi Nakamura

Daily Bruin Contributor

With a colorfully painted backdrop of 12-foot-tall, half-naked women, a man clad only in boxer shorts playing the horn in bed and another man ranting about like only a maniac or a possessed actor in search of funding would, the stage is set for The Flying Karamazov Brothers' presentation of "Room Service."

Through Dec. 21, Paul Magid, Howard Jay Patterson, Michael Preston and Sam Williams, collectively known as The Flying Karamazov Brothers, will entertain audiences at the Mark Taper Forum.

The "Room Service" script, made famous by The Marx Brothers in their 1938 movie with the same title, chronicles the comical predicaments of a poor producer who will do anything to dodge eviction from the White Way Hotel while he tries to obtain funding for a new Broadway play.

The Flying Karamazov Brothers take their cues from the Marx Brothers' original, but give "Room Service" their own personal flavor in adaptation. The Karamazov production is set up as a play within a play within a play. It sounds confusing, but somehow it works for The Karamazov Brothers in terms of comedy.

The four Karamazov Brothers perform all 14 characters within the play, switching off with ease. They besiege the audience with visual and auditory stimulation throughout the show. The Karamazov Brothers are constantly moving and providing witty remarks and quick banter about various social and political issues, from Social Security to Marv Albert. The sexual innuendos are endless.

The social commentary adds a dimension of intellect that keeps the performance from turning into strictly slapstick humor. The introduction of the "Gill Bates" character, who enters at the end of the show to finance the production, is well done and appropriately random.

However, those sitting in the front section should beware. The Karamazov Brothers are very much into audience participation. The foursome is not above yelling at audience members to help take care of the characters' problems, offering spontaneous hugs and even spraying a little water from the water bottle into the first few rows. The Karamazov Brothers encourage the audience to applaud or hiss in reaction to comments, events and actions.

With lively song, dance, juggling and light tumbling, The Karamazov Brothers appear as a sort of troupe of circus clowns, humorously pathetic in their attempt to create Broadway-caliber musical production numbers.

Although the song, dance and juggling were great assets to the Karamazov production of "Room Service," enhancing the entertainment and comedic value of the show, much of the tumbling leaves something to be desired. The "flying" skills exhibited on stage are unimpressive when juxtaposed with the grandness of the rest of the production.

Among the most captivating aspects of the performance is the scene where the four Karamazov Brothers are sitting around a table bouncing rubber balls and creating surprisingly musical rhythms using solely their hands, the table and balls, and impeccable skill and timing.

The Karamazov Brothers give "Room Service" an air of unpredictability, a sort of improvisational aura. There is the feeling that each night's audience gets a different show depending on their reactions and The Karamazov Brothers' mood that night.

For the most part, there is a constant effort to grab and maintain audience fascination, changing pace fast enough to hold even the most attention deficient. However, even the wild antics of The Flying Karamazov Brothers cannot keep the production from dragging a little through the middle. As the three confusingly similar play-within-a-play-within-a-play storylines converge, the audience becomes bogged down trying to separate them.

The breaks between scenes are a welcome change from the constant barrage of action and help to clear the audience's head for the next fusillade of excitement. An orange, singing sun floating across a cloudy gray sky above the set, or a little white blimp that spontaneously explodes and falls from the sky between set changes, are cleverly simple additions that keep audience attention without being overwhelming.

Even with the breaks, audience members should know that they should be prepared to expend a liberal amount of energy just watching the performance. The Karamazov Brothers' "Room Service" is so engaging that it can drain the life from those who arrive already tired.

Indefatigable or not, the audience can readily see throughout "Room Service" the enjoyment the Karamazov Brothers gain from performing. It's clear that the show is as much fun for them to perform as it is for the audience to watch.

THEATER: The Flying Karamazov Brothers perform "Room Service" at the Mark Taper Forum/Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave. through Dec. 21. Tickets are $29-$37. Public rush, "Juggle/Pay What You Can" and senior tickets are available. For more information, call (213) 628-2772.

MTF Press

The Flying Karamazov Brothers, (left to right) Howard Jay Patterson, Paul Magid, Michael Preston and Sam Williams, star in "Room Service."