Guest post By Jennifer Mongold
Expect the unexpected as the Postman comes to the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington. Robert Post is a comedian performing by himself, but he’s not a stand-up comedian which makes his act hard to pinpoint. The truth is, Robert Post is everything comedy. He is a cartoon, mime, ventriloquist, juggler, and comedian, just to name a few. During the Post experience, there is one thing you can expect from Robert, he’s funny.
Post opens his show with his A Rather Unfortunate Evening for Burglar Burt, a rather hilarious piece in which he mimes a misadventure of a burglar, creating the sound effects with his voice. At first, it is hard to distinguish that he is performing all of the sound effects, but once realization has hit it is hard not to marvel at Post’s obvious comedic brilliance. He continues with Tango, sharing an intimate scene he has with his long johns as he dances with his fiery, red partner. Before the next piece, though, there is a pause due to some technical problems, but Post takes the time to engage the audience until the problem is fixed and he can move on to Spiked!. These three pieces, some of his better known, allow the audience to warm up, start laughing, and get involved in the performance.
Post takes you into the world of cartoons with Ace Wingspan, King of the Sky, in which he plays everything but the sky – the pilot, the plane, and the two combined. He introduces this piece by saying to the audience, “I’m fascinated by cartoons,” a statement apparent as he becomes a real-life cartoon on stage, zooming from one part to the next. He creates the majority of the scene with his body and voice, much like the rest of his show, and allows for you to imagine him as a cartoon on stage.
He finishes the first half of his performance with Beyond the Wall (a mystery), a crowd favorite. This piece emphasizes Post’s many disguises. Not only does Post have many different comedic styles incorporated into his show and many disguises throughout the show, he manages to incorporate many different personalities into one piece. His comedic timing and ability to switch naturally from one personality to the next and interact with multiple personalities at once is clever and entertaining.
During intermission, as the crowd emerges slowly from the theatre into the lobby, you can’t help but overhear the rave reviews. Some are still hoarse from laughter following Beyond the Wall and others are discussing his enormous stage presence. The general consensus, though, is that Post is a riot of laughter.
Once intermission is over and the second half begins, everything seems more relaxed. The audience is relaxed and ready to laugh and Post seems more than willing to accommodate their need. He opens with Post Child, a ventriloquist piece he personalizes to Worthington and continues to Shticks. He has a bit of trouble juggling with the low ceiling of the theatre, but ends the piece fantastically and leaves the crowd in awe. He moves on to Ballet 101, an uproariously funny piece in which he plays both a ballet instructor and one of the girls in the class.
Post’s finale is Pasquale’s Kitchen. It was yet another crowd favorite, one in which Post earned his comedic medal as he recovered astutely from dropping plates and bowls, brought a fish back to life, and still had time to make bread. He catered to the audience and had a few disguises in this act as well, emphasizing his comedic genius seen throughout the show. This was a great finale to end with, showcasing many of his talents in one act and emphasizing not only his comedic genius, but the fact that Post is just wholesomely funny.
POST Comedy Theatre, runs April 8-10 and April 15-17. Curtain is at 8:00 pm in the very intimate, Bronwyn Theatre of the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington. For tickets and more information on the show, go to www.mcconnellarts.org. For more information on the brilliantly funny Robert Post, go to www.robertpost.org.
