In the words of the Captain himself, “Here at the Captain Tickle Britches Show, we set the bar low. Real Low.” This sort of sums up the type of humor and atmosphere you should expect when you walk into The Shop, fresh off of a drink or two and perhaps some trivial joking conversation with someone you’ve just met at the fringe tent. If you enjoy Dumb and Dumber, SNL, and the occasional Blue Collar Comedy routine, this is the show for you. It is no wonder, then, that the sophomoric tastes of Capt Tickle Britches come from the collegiate minds of Allan McLeod and Robbie Newman, and were spawned at the University of Alabama.
The show is comprised of six sketch routines, each completely unrelated to each other, with attempts to stitch them together by our emcee, Capt Tickle Britches himself, played by Ardavan Sepehr. The stand up routines fashioned to transition between scenes are the least polished of the evening, and merely serve to have you beg for another sketch to start. The sketches themselves range in topic from ninja appreciation in the workplace, to prank calls and the importance of “finders keepers” and the cootie shot, to the essential skills one only learns with a Liberal Arts degree. And some more low-brow topics I’ll let you discover as the sketches unfold. All the actors play multiple roles but watch for standout performances from Seth Alcorn who slips into the skin of his different characters with ease, Kevin O’Reilly whose physical antics with a coffee pot are not to be missed, and Matt Dewberry whose straight-man reactions provide the perfect foil for the ridiculousness of these exaggerated circumstances.
Also keep an open eye out for the slightest bits of pre-and post-show interactions with the actors, a lovely bookend to tie the show together. Director Cliff Williams III also provides a bit of gravity with attempts at illuminating a moral at the end of most sketches. If you’re in the mood for a low brow laugh at middle-class stereotypes, and are willing to think a bit like a teenager again, Captain Tickle Britches will be the perfect late night addition to your Fringe roster!
Running Time: 70 minutes.
Capt Tickle Britches plays through July 26, 2014 at The Shop at Fort Fringe – 607 New York Avenue, NW, in Washington, DC. For performance information and to purchase tickets, visit their Capital Fringe page.
