Paperjam

Avenue Q

Theatre // Nick // 15th November 2006

Avenue Q is a musical. Strike one. Avenue Q has puppets. Strike two. Avenue Q is a 'satirical revue'. Strike three and you are outta here. But actually you aren't. I went with my wife who was most definitely not up for it, but she agreed it is a very funny show that, although it doesn't have the balls or hit the ball-achingly funny level of Jerry Springer The Musical, is one of the best things to come to the West End recently for laughs. Unless you count We Will Rock You, but I think the laughs are unintentional.

In summary, take Sesame Street, add some sex and decidedly un-pc elements (such as the song 'The Internet is for Porn'), together with a nice ending where investment in said porn sorts out the problems, and you come out with a fairly homely musical (if you are a liberal, anyway). There are some nice little one liners - such as the puppet monsters insisting on being described as 'a person of fur'. The overall staging of puppets mixed with people works well - within a short period you suspend disbelief, and the production is very professional, as you would expect from a Broadway transfer.

Not an absolute must-see, but if you are in London and at loose end you could do far worse. An alternate on the same level may be Spamalot - the musical Monty Python Holy Grail derivative. I would go for Avenue Q as unless you've been living in a cave Spamalot is an exercise in nostalgia. Still funny, but you've heard it all before