For the past two years The Latebloomers (Sam Dugmore, Jonathon Tilley and Oliver Nilsson) have presented the Adelaide Fringe with three scatty, sassy Scotsmen in Scotland! This year they are giving us three funny, frenetic Frenchmen in The Bakers.
The story revolves around a family who run a small bakery business in France; Pappa (Tilley), eldest son Jean-Claude (Dugmore) and the youngest son Jean-Pierre (Nilsson). Pappa runs the business with the dictum: Heart, Hands, Home! But Jean-Claude believes it should be: MONEY!! Somehow this theme stays prevalent despite all the shenanigans that go on.
The Latebloomers are known for their very clever and extremely hysterical physical comedy and this wonderful little outing is no exception. There is plenty to make you laugh: objects (a lot of flour – it is a bakery after all) get thrown around (beware the low flying bread slices); visual buffoonery galore; audience participation that doesn’t discriminate, even if you’re a reviewer (that will teach me to leave my Media Pass at home!); and let’s not forget ‘Billy, the Work Experience kid’.
Tilley, Dugmore and Nilsson may be The Latebloomers but there is nothing late about how they flourish (or, if you like, ‘flour’ish) when it comes to comedic skill and timing. I make no bones about the fact that I love these guys. Their connectivity to one another is indisputable and admirable.
I’d urge you to go see them for an hilarious night out, but you’ll have to wait until next Fringe as the rest of this season is SOLD OUT! Now, if that is not proof in the pudding, I don’t know what is.