Regardless of the musical antics on stage, the real star of the show on Thursday at Bad Dog was the men's room.
No offence to the Williamson Playboys or the two members of Slap Happy who turned up, but the night was a fundraiser, after all, since the improv house has a crater in its basement where once there was a bathroom, and the bills for all those permits and plumbing fixin's are starting to pile up.
The place needs a new "piss bunker" as host Marc Hickox — up from L.A. and as usual in character as German folk oddity Heino — put it at one point.
And it'll get one if the turnout and some surprise donations announced that night are any indication. About $1000 came in through the door, plus another $2000 from an unnamed donor and $1400 via Second City bosses Klaus Schuller and Andrew Alexander.
More than enough — yes, I looked it up — to buy one of those really nice Kohler commodes at Home Depot.
The all-music show peaked early with a rousing set from Fast & Dirty, the recently little-seen duo of Gord Oxley and Rob Hawke, who burst onto the tiny stage with an atonal opener about the horrors of jazz and an easier listening but no less funny number ("Sensitive Finger Picking") on the romantic charms of acoustic guitars. Both of those come from F&D's 2003 album Live From Our Pants, produced by Jim Clayton, who also works with the Playboys and who organized the fundraiser with Bad Dog.
Flailing and spraying sweat, Oxley looked like he was going to jump straight out of his tuxedo during "Jazz" and did a lot to raise the bar for the other acts.
Not a problem for Tabetha Wells and Dave Pearce of Slap Happy who, joined by Greg Komorowski, made up an equally delightful musical about unwashed dishes.
But by the time the Williamson Playboys ambled out, their schtick was noticeably out of step with the over-stimulated audience. Doug Morency and Paul Bates play at being an exceedingly old father and son act, prone to reminiscing about the good ol' century between tuba and ukulele numbers about FDR and Stalin. But the after the night's other high-energy antics, the geriatric act felt too much like the real thing, creaky and a little tiring.
Best bets
If you missed them in June and you get to the Rivoli ASAP on Thursday, you could get one of the 100 tickets to see Kids in the Hall, who will return to their old haunt that night for a 25th anniversary show. $20, limit four tickets per person. Tickets go on sale at noon, doors open at 9pm. 334 Queen St. W. 416-596-1908. www.rivoli.ca
Finally! A stage show with audio commentary. Approximately 3 Peters debut their new show: "Pet3rs: The Complete 3rd Season," running every Saturday in September at Bad Dog. The third revue from the sketch trio is a send-up of the DVD boxed set phenom, says Peter Hill, and obsessed-over serialized dramas like Lost and Dexter. Watch for the car chase and songs about Area 51.
"We've striven to make this show as theatrical as possible by presenting a car chase live on stage," says Hill, "using songs from Grease to tell a story set in Area 51, and by presenting a ballet robbery in a dialogue-free scene."Sep 6, 13, 20 & 27. 10pm. 138 Danforth Ave. $10 at the door or tickets@3peters.com.