The Tokyo Shock Boys are well known to Australian audiences, having toured regularly to these shores and frequently appearing on popular TV shows such as Hey Hey, Rove and GNW. They return this year to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival as part of their 20th Anniversary Tour.Having only ever seen them perform brief segments on telly, I was keen to see if they could maintain the outrage for a full-length live show. With a soundtrack of driving techno beats and electronic samples (courtesy of on-stage DJ - Genji), and an endless stream of physical stunts involving hot wax, liquid nitrogen and a live scorpion, amongst other things, this show had the audience alternately squirming and cheering for the full 80 minutes.
The Tokyo Shock Boys take slapstick humour to physical excess, with stunts that range from fairly innocuous to bordering on medieval in their severity. Its one thing to watch someone light their own fart - its quite something else to watch them dangle a cement block from their scrotum or dip their face into hot wax.
The very loose premise of this extreme pantomime is a macabre game of one upmanship, with each of the Boys adopting various personas and striving to outdo each other in pointless self-harm - all in the pursuit of the title of … Number One!
Danna San snorts a glass of milk through his nose, then sprays the audience with milk from his tear ducts. Nambu San plays a human dart-board and has cash stapled to his head. Gyuzo San, somewhat inexplicably, adopts a Michael Jackson persona and has his head used as a drum. And much much more besides - to tell too much would be to spoil the surprise.
It would be pointless to over-intellectualise this show, as it is an entirely visceral experience, but amidst the abject silliness occurring on stage, the Boys very cleverly play with the Japanese stereotype, and use their apparent lack of English to great effect. At one point, they politely and innocently tell the audience to shut the f**k up.
There’s a fair amount of audience participation in this show, not all of it voluntary (especially for those in the front two rows) and the one or two flat spots occurred only when the audience were being asked to do, well, something, but it just wasn’t quite clear exactly what. But that was rare, and for the most part, the show rocks along at a manic pace.
After 20 years these Boys have lost none of their power to shock. Senseless. Pointless. Gobsmacking. Hilarious stuff.
TOKYO SHOCK BOYS – 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
Venue: Playhouse, the Arts Centre, Melbourne
Dates: March 23, 24, 25, 26 @ 8.30pm
Matinees: March 27 & 28 @ 5pm
Bookings: 1300 182 183 theartscentre.com.au & ticketmaster.com.au 1300 136 166