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Intimate Scares
‘Strange Things’ duo put on a supernatural performance in
unusual People’s Improv Theater show
By
Bethany Trottier / Jester correspondent
Matthew Holtzclaw and Prakash Puru began their Nov. 8 performance as
“Strange Things” at The PIT with a request that the audience move
closer to the stage, beckoning them forward from the middle and rear
seats where most were.
The front rows were undoubtedly the best vantage point for the magic
tricks performed by the duo. Holtzclaw and Puru made a point of
bringing audience members on stage for tricks to get some even
closer to the performance. And why not get your money’s worth?
Another incentive to get close is a better chance at being chosen
for a mind-reading piece by Holtzclaw and Puru. Chatting later with
the audience member who participated, she reported they were very
accurate.
The duo are both large men in gentlemanly suits, with subdued
demeanors. They have an easy and amusing banter, which is genuinely
funny. Puru’s British accent is quite proper, spoken in a low quiet
voice that makes the vulgarities he uses that much more amusing.
They perform card tricks, lit cigarette tricks and full glasses of
water tricks, all of it exceptionally polished – very well done.
Halfway through the show, Holtzclaw declared that we would be
treated to something a bit unusual, a touch of horror added. Well,
my brain was nerve wracked with thoughts of the macabre. My stomach
however, was rattled as hell, lurching, attempting to upend the
nachos I had so conscientiously filled it with before the show. To
be honest it was the sounds more than the images of the grotesque
that got me. Not for the faint of heart indeed.
Strange Things returns to The PIT at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22 (stories) |
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