By snoadmin
Fred Willard, the stern-faced character actor best known to college students for his stint in “Anchorman” and his regular appearances in Christopher Guest mockumentaries, appeared at the Stages Theatre in Fullerton with his comedy troupe, the MoHos, on Saturday.
The group found its beginnings 13 years ago in North Hollywood, or NoHo – the company name comes from an overly complicated wordplay for “Christmastime in Hollywood.” The sketch performers are a composite of industry-recommended actors centered around creators Willard and his wife Mary. The casting for the MoHos shows are based purely on word-of-mouth, where writers are allowed to openly submit scripts and new ensembles are put together for each performance.
Close to 20 actors came together to celebrate the Stages Theatre’s 15th anniversary by performing a string of comedy routines titled “The MoHos And Their OCD (Orange County Disorder).”
While most of the humor was aimed at the forty-something crowd, the show was heavy on Orange County satire that people of any age could appreciate. Even the less-than-stellar acting that might have put another show into a tailspin seemed to rebound – like it or not, the lesser-known actors drew part of their acting chemistry from the mere presence of Willard.
Skits ranged from 15-second shorts like “Moments of Subdued Pride,” which highlighted the hilarious-but-depressing transition from happiness to sadness, to prolonged musical solos about, well, anything – 409 surface cleaner, stalking Steven Spielberg, whatever.
Reoccurring sketches like the “Tales of Janice the Temp,” which reminded the audience that “the life of a temporary worker is a risky one,” struck a cord with the cold social circles found in the workplace, as well as Fred’s hysterical delivery of “The Top Ten Things Never Heard in Orange County” (“Number Four: You know what Westminster is missing? A little Pacific Rim culture”).
A personal favorite was writer and performer Ray Klein’s “Handsome Men” bit about three self-proclaimed incredibly handsome men who were confronted with the uncertainty, “Can a handsome man also be gay?” which, when followed with an affirmative, further begged the question, “Where are these handsome gay men?” It wasn’t so much the answer (a fashionable and affluent coastal community in the O.C.), or even the plot (what were they even talking about?) that made the bit work so much as the performers’ hysterically over-the-top delivery, something frowned upon in typical theater but essential to a good comedy.
Fred Willard achieved the show’s crescendo in his performance as a talk-show host in the second act. A quick and callous back-and-forth banter between a restaurant chef and an airplane crash survivor-turned-cannibal put Willard’s showmanship to the test. Hilarity ensued – he passed
An excellent performance from the troupe to be sure, but the audience clapped loudest for Fred, and I suspect we probably laughed loudest for the same reason. I got a chance to fondly remember Willard in his role as Mr. Flaherty in “American Wedding.” It even got me reminiscing about high school drama productions, where half the fun was watching people you know make idiots out of themselves. “Why can’t we see more jackasses up on stage?” I pondered.
Willard’s performance at Stages brought a slice of the Hollywood improv and acting scene that places around here are desperately lacking. But perk up – The Pike is due for a new Laugh Factory before the year is out. Soon you won’t have to drive an hour for paid parking, $8 beers and not-so-cheap laughs.
