The pre-show materials said: “Imagine Flight of the Conchords, Ed Sheeran, the Muppets and Mr. Bean all rolled into two people performing a concert.” Now imagine Wayne and Garth without the weed, Bare Naked Ladies without the sound check, and the best garage band tape-looping fun you had in high school. Meet Paul and John (without George and Ringo) and you have Jetpack Superheroes. They are indeed lovable as well as pretty shameless. Paul’s only solo “21 Children” is reminiscent of Bill Murray’s Nick Rails lounge lizard while John’s sound mixing and vocal sound play carry the show. Such a beautiful mid-afternoon and the call of the sunshine prevented a large house, but these superheroes rose to the occasion and delivered their (Ed) sheer (an) silliness with heart.
–LINDA SHARY, PortFringe 2019 Review Team
Come for the costume changes and stay for the banter, Jetpack Superheros is exactly what I wish was playing in town when my folks come to visit. With looping mastery, an impressive falsetto and a touch of irreverence this comedic duo will leave you chuckling.
— TARRA BOUCHARD, PortFringe 2019 Review Team
Huh. Let’s go with this. In a Fringe show, we expect fringey-ness. We expect miscues, poor sound, mediocre visual set pieces. And by we, I mean you. You should expect, with this show, ALL of the above.
BUT – Fringey-ness has another side too, a side where content can rise above its mediocre execution , reach out to the audience, and have them clapping along by the end of an hour long set. This show was really fun. Despite the technical – well, Fringey-ness of it all – the lyrics and songs of this duo from Mass shined through. There is even some genuine musical virtuosity, if you consider the loop pedal an instrument. It’s rare that the first five minutes of a show are SOOOO different than the last five minutes, but as these two closed the show with an EDM Funeral, I found myself laughing out loud.
It is buffoonish, challenging, but ultimately succeeds in winning you over, as your smiles and laughs overcome your expectations of what theatre should be.
I’d like to leave you with a bit of their decidedly woke lyrical banter – “Very important, women’s consent/Also important – deodorant.” For Fans Of: Flight of the Conchords, Barenaked Ladies, loop pedals, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and air trumpet.
— ALLEN BALDWIN, PortFringe 2019 Review Team
Look. I’ve got my pride. I put my time in each day trying to string our limited bracket of verbs and nouns together in a way that might (if I’m successful) appear unique. My big dopey plan in fact had been to write something relevant about Portland’s ongoing love affair with dogs. But by the end of Jetpack Superheroes’ performance, there was only one pithy refrain running ad infinitum through my idiot brain:
Shook my fanny when I lost my granny.
Shook my fanny when I lost my granny.
Shook my fanny when I lost my granny.
Shook my fanny when I lost my granny.
Now you tell me: what further review or criticism can I possibly add to such a genuine linguistic pearl?
— DOUGLAS W. MILLIKEN, PortFringe 2019 Review Team
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