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The Magnificent Hour

nytheatre.com review by Fred Backus
August 15, 2005

What if you had an hour where you could legally murder another American—that is, as long as you fill out the proper paperwork? This is the premise of The Magnificent Hour, the latest creation by the sketch comedy troupe ETC. With audience participation cards left on the seats, mock commercials projected on the back wall, and a program packed with "Magnificent Hour Application Forms," a countdown begins in real time on a large digital clock which launches a series of interweaving sketches that ensue during this hour of planned carnage.But once the clock starts running, the product doesn’t fully live up to the promises of the packaging. The audience participation element comes off as little more than a gimmick: it is neither used to throw the audience off-balance, nor to give the performers hurdles through which to demonstrate their skill. The rest of the ingredients set you up for a political, cultural, and social satire, but The Magnificent Hour doesn’t seem to have a clear plan of attack or a clear idea of what its target is. The current presidential administration, city bureaucracy, the local news, and television personality shows all come under the bombardment of its artillery fire, but too often the gags aren’t tied to the premise of the skits, which in turn too often have little to do with the overall premise of the piece. Perhaps a good example is the local news sketch. Instead of exploring the comedic possibilities of how the local news might cover such an insane event, we get to see the anchors insult each other with sexual references. Humor doesn’t have to be a precision instrument, but if you’re going to go for the “I can’t believe they went there” approach, then you have to either go way over the top or dig deep these days. The Magnificent Hour doesn’t quite do either.Sharp or original characters can often make up for a lot, but the show doesn't quite satisfy in this department either. Sometimes the characters come straight out of Sketch Central Casting, like the Fu Manchu rehash of General Chang. Other characters work for a single gag, but then quickly wear out their welcomes when they reappear again and again.Credit must be given to Anne Johnson, who at least puts in the effort to try to make some of her roles memorable, and to Gene Perelson, whose President Bush imitation is pitch-perfect both in mannerisms and in satirizing the content of his pronouncements and policies. In fact, every member of this seven person ensemble made me laugh at some point, which indicates there is potential here. I think ETC has both the intelligence and talent to carve out a comedic place in the urban, white collar landscape of our psyche, but they need to plan a better operation. I’d like to see them sharpen the knife, really choose their points of entry, and cut a little deeper.