Review: Lords of Strut, Cork Opera House
[rating]4[/rating]
They’re after the perfect dance routine, to change our lives and make the world a better place. But first, a game of invisible tennis.
Cork-based street performers Cormac Mohally and Cian Kinsella, aka the Lords of Strut, have had a phenomenal year, reaching the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2017.
Unlike their recent adults-only show, Release The Freak, where the antics are far raunchier, Absolute Legends is family-friendly, a cleaned-up version of their slapstick physical humour.
As a double act, Mohally and Kinsella have impeccable comic timing, trading off a good cop/bad cop dynamic where older brother Famous Seamus is bossy and competitive, while naïve younger brother Seantastic evokes the sympathy of the crowd. And he did in spades: watching the responses of kids in the audience as they immersed themselves in the show was almost as entertaining as the onstage antics.
When one little girl was invited to join Famous Seamus in a game of the aforementioned invisible tennis, complete with sound effects, she was so engrossed in the game that her eyes followed the trajectory of the imaginary ball as she volleyed intently.
The underlying message to the hour-long show was that chasing perfection is folly and we should have more fun. By the time the audience was joining in dance moves like The Muscle Hustle and Licking The Lino for the finale, it seemed a fitting metaphor for the show itself, which hasn’t always made a smooth transition from the street to the more formal space of the theatre.
Adult fans may notice the hour-long show is a little heavy on previously seen routines, but junior members of the audience will be delighted with this introduction to these Lords of silliness: Absolute Legends indeed.
