Scratch
Scratch has been getting 5 STAR reviews at the fringe since they started in 2005. Have they gotten less than 5 before? Sure. But those reviewers had weak hearts and soft minds. Anyone with a soul knows this is a 5 STAR situation. PS: We are available for private bookings if you know what I mean.
Seeing Kevin and Arlen do Scratch is a Fringe improv must each year!! Their formula is predictable in the best way. It’s always ridiculously crass and you know that you’ll get a montage and that one character with a half closed eye and tented fingers. In the shower I saw they mashed together the (new) Frankenstein movie with Face Off. Connor McDavid (died immediately) was there along with Leon Draisaitl (very heavy German accent). They lost track of the characters a little bit (there were so many!) but ultimately I laughed so hard that it hurt!
I have been an avid fringe goo-er for several years now seeing about 5-10 (or more on a good year) shows every year. I see scratch at least once and usually twice. If you haven't been, you really have to. Every show is different. Every time I get a good chuckle. Sometimes I don't know the references that they used for the skit (they usually ask for a movie suggestion) and I can usually still figure it out. But its better when I do know them.
Scratch: Unscripted, Unpredictable, and Uncontrollably Comedic
What happens when you give two comedians no script and let them go off the rails? Scratch, the effortlessly funny improv show, has been at the Fringe for 21 years and for good reason! Arlen Konopaki and Kevin Gillese not only bounce off each other perfectly, but feed off the crowd’s energy as well; which was insanely fun to watch! The audience was erupting into laughter so frequently, it’s hard to recall a joke that didn’t land. You know a skit’s funny when the actors themselves momentarily break character to giggle. The way the duo built off the prompts they picked out from the audience was pure comedy! Those stakes were raised so naturally, it was hard to look away from the performance to write notes. The transitions from skit to skit were smooth, making it easy to follow along. Konopaki and Gillese clearly and fully embodied their characters, even when they switched between them or to the next skit, making for a lot of silly interactions. To top it all off, the lighting team and sound team knocked it out of the park! The lighting wasn’t anything crazy, but properly set the scene for each skit. And sound might as well have been its own character, with the song choices being simply perfect with the best comedic timing! When they started playing “7 Years” during a more dramatic moment in one of the skits, the audience was dying of laughter! Overall, Scratch is all you could want from an improv show: a hilariously good time with some brilliant, silly chaos mixed in! Highly recommend it to anyone who’s willing to laugh for an hour straight!Nicely built improv stories, they played off the audience very well and it was funny.
Caught Scratch tonight and man did they NOT disappoint!! Arlen & Kevin put mine & my partner‘s relationship up on display and they were SOOOO close!! Sulphur? Check! Tinder? Check! Chicken Alfredo? Welllll… I’ll never tell!! 🤫
Twenty years of performing together… man, who would have thought two boys who started improv at the age of three could go so far!! This is improv at some of its finest!!
Check out the rest of the run and show them some love!!💕
Another improv must, it wouldn’t be the Fringe without Kevin and Arlen doing Scratch! Hilarious as always, they consistently manage to create multiple stories that all tie together perfectly in the end. And don’t forget, there’s always a montage! They’ve got a formula and it works!
For someone who has never been to an improv show before, this makes me want to go back. No wonder this duo has been performing together for 20 years. They handled the audiences prompts perfectly. Bouncing back and forth between 3 different narratives before connecting them all together and giving each story a hilarious yet fitting ending. This is a duo I would love to see again and live through another adventurous story.