By Alanta Colley
Astrid and Otto Rot are back this Festival with their latest tour of ‘Eurosmash’; their fourth album. The duo spared no expense in this flashy sense-saturating production. They take us into outer space, the world of celebratory diets, romances on the road, and reveal an uncomfortable amount of detail about their personal lives in the process.
The two have created a delightful mash up of rock concert and comedy gig. Combining the best of physical theatre, clowning, character comedy, and musical comedy, with added sparkles and face paint, this is an all-round glamorous and entertaining experience.
Die Roten Punkte (German for The Red dots) contains delightfully confusing layers of parody. Astrid Rot and Otto Rot (Australians Clare Bartholomew and Daniel Tobias) conduct a loose mockery of the White Stripes; the pair drawing on their relationship as siblings; where traditional boundaries are just a little dubious. Otto’s innocence and sincerity is constantly crushed by his bossy and overbearing older sister. These two don’t seem entirely suited to the glam rock lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock n roll they both purport to live. For some reason they are also hail from the roughly German school of pop rock. The two are in the process of trying to deliver a rock concert; as petty squabbles, grievances, tangents, and accidents keep interrupting the flow of things. Throughout the performance we slowly patch together their history as orphans and their bumpy journey to fame. As per usual an amount of awkward audience participation makes the whole thing more ridiculous. It’s a whole lot of fun.
Like Spinal Tap the pair bridge the gap between parody and also being an actual band; their new songs including ‘Do you speak Dance’ and ‘Body Slam’; both hilariously performed on children’s sized instruments. Go for the glamour; stay for the train wreck of sibling rivalry.
Eurosmash! is on at the Forum Theatre – Downstairs until April 19
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/eurosmash-die-roten-punkte