Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles from ‘James & Jamesy: Easy As Pie’, Photo by Leif Norman
Presented by James & Jamesy
Turns out, pie isn’t all that easy. Not where faces are concerned—the faces of clowns with trauma. James & Jamesy: Easy As Pie goes to a lot of places, some of them pretty surprising, even a little dark. When James (Aaron Malkin) suddenly can’t work himself up to getting his face pied, he and Jamesy (Alastair Knowles) embark on a fanciful odyssey.
All over the place, but most absurdly—into his brain!
Their set up is pretty simple, a bare stage with some risers at the back for masking the traditional ascending and descending illusions. Except for the critical pie and an important key, most of the objects are conjured through impressive miming.
There is plenty of self-aware schtick, with clever asides to the audience and a general acknowledgement of the mechanics of clowning. My all-time favourite line: “How deep do I have to go? All the way to the… subtext?” (Certainly don’t want to spoil the context of this absolutely perfect bit of dialogue.)
Director David MacMurray Smith creates some stunning visuals with the antics inside of James’ brain. As they try to get to the root of his recent reluctance to get his faced pied, black light effects help sell the eerie atmosphere. Though, it’s their dynamic that really draws us in.
Climbing into and over the audience, they have some great interactions with us. I was spellbound throughout my time with these charming goofs.