I was minding my own business on Sunday night, when a troupe of six actresses and one male guest ambushed me and I found myself laughing in near tears for nearly two hours .The hysterical women of EstroFest (Marlena Dater, Dresden Engle, Andrea Holland, Ken Klamm, Allison Roberts and Freyda Schneider.) Luckily for you, EstroFest is performing one more week at Nazareth College of Rochester.
First, EstroFest's humor is for mature audiences only. When you hear their humor, you'll understand why. They are the women of Saturday Night Live who met The Kids In The Hall on their way to Benny Hill. The take no prisons in their endless array of skits. The humor borders on the edge and I say "BRAVO" to the humor. The troupe's humor challenges some of the stereotypical images that still exist within our society. The group's strong disclaimer reinforces that.
Without giving away too much during their nearly two-hour performance, I particularly enjoyed " Fairy Tale Therapy," "PBS", "The McFeeley Sisters", "The Bible" "Still On The Lawnfront," and "House Of Pain." The writing in these pieces is smart, sharp and sizzling. Lots of subtle clues and clever use of dialogue. The was constant laughter in the audience. I also enjoyed the clever and effective use of film clips between the live segments and "The Supermarket Dance-Off" clip was hysterical between sisters Andrea and Norma Holland. I never knew newscaster Norma Holland could move like that. It's something you never see on the six o'clock morning newscast.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Dresden Engle's or Allison Roberts performances in "Hemp's Talent-Off". For Roberts performance, think George Carlin's Hippy Dippy weatherman hosts a game show. It's funny. The attitude and jokes are right on.
Engle has a gift for doing accents. I just didn't know her powerful hip thrust moves could be so funny, as she gives advice to audience viewers how to be and eventually get their own talk show. The red toilet paper holder set the whole audience off on a laughing frenzy.
If you miss this group of talented women, you only have yourself to blame. Check them out. They'll warm you up and overheat you this weekend.
Posted By: Marsha Jones
Thursday, January 27th 2011 at 1:10PM
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