[KIDS AND FAMILY/Comedy ~ SA]

Amazing Drumming Monkeys
The Factory at The Garden of Unearthly Delights Sat 2 March, 2024.

It’s not often that a show gets better the more things go wrong, but the Amazing Drumming Monkeys have a way of building failure into their stunts which winds the anticipation up to boiling point. And how the cheers erupt when they finally pull it off! We’re treated to a couple of these wind ups, which demonstrate the ease and familiarity with which this well practiced duo delivers their routine. You know they’ve done this before and they’ll roll confidently with it, however it turns out.

The show is low tech with simple puppetry, probably much the same as their first show twenty years ago. There’s something very casual and approachable about this. No flashy lighting or sound effects. Attention is only on the monkeys, and their drumming and banter gets the crowd engaged. And just in case it doesn’t, the monkeys direct young and old to get involved, which works well. The kids went bananas at the front of the stage and it was hard to find anyone in the crowd who resisted the persuasion to move with the percussion. 

It’s easy to see why the monkeys are still drumming up crowds after all these years. They’ve tuned into the basic ingredients to activate a crowd, providing a reminder that amongst the digital dazzlings on offer for children, simple music, movement and a couple of monkey suits are all you need to get a room of children excited.