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Thank heaven for Professor Bumm and his story machine
in the Pleasance Courtyard. The children dissolved into giggles, the parents
shone, I laughed for the first time in three days. They produce children’s
theatre that defies gravity.
The Times The show is full of clever word play, silly jokes and mad improvisations. Yes, it's stupid, but the kids love it and much to my surprise I really rather enjoyed it too. Andrew Jones and Ciaran Murtagh work so hard and play the audience so skillfully that you soon find yourself grinning as inanely as the kids. The standard is consistently high and this hour of madcap fun does its job. Lyn Gardner, The Guardian Certain words are guaranteed to make children and juvenile adults laugh. Professor Ivor Bumm and Doctor Willy Whee seem to know most of them, but there's more to this hilarious show for the over-sevens than toilet humour. Andrew Jones and Ciaran Murtagh are masters of improvisation. Daily Mail Pick of the day How to get an audience of children on your side instantly: introduce yourselves as Professor Ivor Bumm and Dr Willy Whee - then drench them with a giant Super Soaker; simple, but effective. The two anarchic boffins then proceed to make it all up as they go along. They ask the audience for a few key words and spin them into barmy ad-libbed fables - about a six-year old electrician, a giant with traffic-stopping feet and a Women's Institute cake fight. They make a great job of it and have a keen eye for material that can make young audiences roll about. êêêê The Scotsman (2004 and 2005)Improvised stories from this inspired comic duo who rely on audience suggestions and their unusually quick thinking comedy talent to create absolute mayhem and anarchic fun. Engaging entertainment for kids of all ages - thanks in no small part to the energy and quick thinking creativity of the pair. êêêê The ListIt is a simple formula but an effective one. Take two eccentric eggheads, name them Professor Ivor Bumm and Doctor Willy Whee, equip them with a schoolyard’s worth of scatological jokes and then sit back and watch an audience of assembled kids squeal and giggle. The performers seem to be having almost as much fun as the kids, who, in the real acid test, remain totally enchanted and fidget-free throughout. The Stage Professor Bumm (Harry Hill’s doppelganger) and Doctor Whee (yes really!) unveil their latest invention - The Story Machine (think HAL crossed with Steven Hawking). What we get is largely improvised madness that relies on the imagination of the children in the audience. Not the most sophisticated comedy, but certainly the most fun I’ve had all festival so far. I wish my parents had taken me to see stuff like this! Brilliantly bonkers! êêêêê Three WeeksIt is a pleasure to see a children’s show in which the adults are laughing as hard as the children. Under the guise of covering the machine’s malfunction Bumm and Whee create the stories on the spot and brilliant stories they are too. Jones and Murtagh work with, and sometimes against, each other to push their creative levels to the limit and the result is a delight. Each story relies on a different technique, from props or sound effects to creating a tale by alternating every word between the two actors. Go and see this one. êêêêê HairlineThese two are never short of an anarchic idea. Kids around me were rolling about in delight with their attendant adults chuckling along, when Whee suddenly has to integrate a trainee zebra genie into a pop-singing competition or when the Professor and his sidekick become an instant ramshackle engine with the help of a few hoops and some painfully deployed cardboard tubes. Take the kids, rediscover your (preferably silly) inner child and enjoy «««« What’s On StageLots of stories and lots of laughs for both kids and adults And what stories! Jones and Murtagh are energetic and engaging, playing off each other perfectly and dealing unpatronisingly with the children. This is a fast, furious hour of fun ending with loud, well-deserved cheers. ««««« Broadway Baby
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