Ridiculusmus, The Exhibitionist

Review in Issue 11-2 | Summer 1999

Saturday afternoon in the Open Eye Gallery and the security guards are quietly officious, frisking people and their bags. All part of the conceit of the show. Once seated, the guards alleviate the boredom of their job by playing pranks. A curious mix of barmy schoolboy humour and achingly serious cameos emerges. Occasionally a 'real' visitor punctuates the scenario by attempting to view the art works. He or she is soon 'seen off’, and the third guard is despatched into a cardboard box.

What could be merely a series of sketches is held together by the thoroughly convincing characters of the guards. Unlike many comic actors, John Hough and Dave Woods only let the mask of the guards slip in order to reveal another character.

Ridiculusmus are steadily gathering a cult following. They would deny the label physical theatre, yet physicality and visual humour are fundamental to this show. And they tread a fine line between scripted and improvised material, constantly keeping the experience ‘alive'. That sense of risk is what makes their work watchable – that and a Pythonesque absurdity that not only has its own internal logic but has their audience crying with laughter.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Mar 1999

This article in the magazine

Issue 11-2
p. 20