Comedy: Austinist gets up on Kazillionaire*

Kazillionaire* is psycho-pseudosketch duo Madeline Malka and Jeremy Lamb. In this sketch show, they create the Kazillionaire* world - an Earth-like planet created by Mother Earth (Malka) and Father Time (Lamb) - created as a sort of side project to entertain the deities during their courtship. The history of Kazillionaire* and its other-worldly customs is humorously described by a creative use of video clips (ala Discovery channel), voiceover and Eastern hip hop rituals.

Portraying most all of the characters in Kazillionaire*, Malka and Lamb navigate their way through gods (clothed and - at moments - completely nude), dinosaurs, secret agents and overly-energetic librarians. In particular, both succeed in playing the main gods (Father Time and Mother Earth) in a grounded and refreshing way - playing the reality of the inevitably sad and awkward moments surrounding a break up with honesty and tenderness. Conversely, they remain true to sketch tradition with a hilarious scene between a dim Secret Service agent and an idiot president/public official obsessed with mugging to the audience (essentially a spot-on Bush impression that we could have watched for hours). Malka and Lamb play most every scene with the commitment and playfulness that make these two among our favorite improv and sketch actors to watch.

Since we saw the show on its preview night, we assume the issues with the length of scene transitions were tweaked to better serve the scene work and the show's narrative and momentum. Considering the acting and comedic talents of Lamb and Malka, we also saw an opportunity for heavier utilization of a director's guidance to help shape scenic emphasis, transitions and pacing.

Overall, we enjoyed Kazillionaire*s first sketch presentation and look forward to these performers next projects. Malka and Lamb are good actors and funny people.

Kazillionaire*
Thursday - Saturday, July 27-30th
8:30pm
The Hideout Theatre
617 Congress Ave