Don’t Stop Believin’

PIT denizen Marc Bonnée injects a rock-and-roll spirit into his performance showcase.

Marc Bonnée, formerly of People’s Improv Theater sketch comedy group Drop Six (see interview, 2/25/07), has returned to the theater with a solo showcase, “Too,” a well-structured show that showcases his versatility as a performer.

“Too” is a 45-minute mix of character pieces and dramatic monologues interspersed with briefer interludes in which Bonnée rocks out dancing and singing to certain songs. He uses tracks such as “Rooster” by Alice In Chains to set moods and tones around longer pieces, breathing a certain style and structure into the show.

The most ingenious character piece in “Too” finds Bonnée anthropomorphizing a soccer ball, with a caved in half of a ball on his head serving as a costume. Bonnée voices the ball’s thoughts and feelings about getting kicked and head-butted around all day.

Bonnée reprises an old favorite character from his Drop Six days, Joey Jerkins, an over-confident Tony Manero type urging his audience in infomercial style to get in touch with their emotions and be confident ad happy. As Jerkins, Bonnée adds a few new wrinkles to the character bringing him closer to the PIT’s audience and interacting a bit more with audience members as this character. 

Along the way, Bonnée has added some personal and in-character monologues that are more dramatic than comedic, or at very least wryly and darkly comic, that serve to let audiences get to know him, and draw them in for when he takes flight with more broadly comedic creations like Jerkins and the soccer ball. Among the more touching of these is Bonnée’s tales of being raised by a single mom, and a challenging reconciliation with his father as a teenager.

In all, “Too” is an involving showcase for a heart-on-his-sleeve type of performer, who can also pull off chameleonic changes into different characters for comedy’s sake. Bonnée gives audiences tastes of both light and dark material, and a range of tones, in this showcase.

Marc Bonnée in “Too” returns to The PIT on Thursday, Nov. 11.