The fifth edition of the monthly Bonus Stage was a comedy night – but perhaps a little more niche than most. Billed as a “live video game talk show”, the night was such a grounded and user-friendly experience, it was more like chatting about video games with some mates – admittedly over a few beers with some music, videos, and of course, actual gaming.
Fit to burst with sketches, multimedia, chats and music from house band Benny Davis and The Triforce, the show’s format made for a few disjointed starts and pauses – but with the night’s light-hearted atmosphere, this wasn’t a problem. Hosts Ben O’Brien and Carlo Ritchie of the weekly radio show Big Head Mode were excellent, creating immediate rapport through rapid-fire jokes and game references that explored and name-checked a range of games from Call Of Duty and Skyrim to Super Mario, Tomb Raider and Lemmings.
The sketches were great fun, parodying the lives of video game characters through portrayal of actual characters and second-hand conversation. Seaton Kay-Smith made an appearance as renowned psychologist to the video game star Dr. Oliver Sox to regale the audience with stories of his famous patients, among these being Donkey Kong’s hoarding habits and Pac-Man’s haunted past. Also featured was a brand new quiz segment in the style of Banjo-Kazooie, aptly titled ‘Carlo’s Furnace Fun.’ This gave the already fairly involved audience a more vocal outlet and with the themed buzzers, Carlo’s Grunty impressions, and audience members politely raising their hands to answer questions, the segment was a hit with the slightly boozy but ever-respectful crowd.
However, the highlight of the night came from a purely improvised number. As featured guest, Kara Jensen-Mackinnon – professional gamer and holder of several international Tetris high scores – settled down to play Tetris live in front of us all, there was complete silence. This turned into something pretty special as Ritchie quipped that the audience should all sing the Tetris theme. Lo and behold, the crowd started humming along – softly at first – before building into full-blown singing, yelling and clapping Kara on, with the band leaping up and joining the audience on their instruments.
It was a beautiful organic moment that sealed the night’s air of inclusivity and fun, finishing with Kara smashing through triple-scores and Ritchie’s comment that a whole crowd singing the Tetris theme together will never happen to any of us again.
3.5/5 stars
Bonus Stage was reviewed at Giant Dwarf on Wednesday July 22.
