When a reviewer says your production "is hysterically funny, but it makes no sense," it's usually a bad thing.
But apply that opinion to "Sabotage," the improv-based show featuring local comedic actors Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen and you have an apt conclusion rather than snide condescension.
The duo staged its last performance of "Sabotage II" Sunday at the Riverside Theater as part of the inaugural Revolutions International Theater Festival to the third packed house of the weekend - a testament to the group's popularity in local circles.
"Sabotage" - or "Sabo-TAGE, TAge, Tage, tage ." as the introduction goes - had its genesis at the Riverside's late-night cabaret, The Reptilian Lounge. Then it was a spy-spoof featuring conniving British brothers Nigel and Nigel.
"Sabotage I," which included collaborator Eric Perry, removed much of spy material, turned the two Nigels kinder, gentler blokes and added more characters to the challenging, changeling-like format.
Sunday's crowd at "Sabotage II" was about as eclectic as the characters that inhabited it. You had the requisite young people with colored hair and baggy chinos sitting next to pony-tailed professionals on a night out; flamboyant theater types sat next to older folks in Hawaiian shirts and fleece tops.
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The performance was as much a tribute to comedic theater troupes such as Second City as it was to the TV shows "Second City" and its inspired ilk, as well as pioneers such as the Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton.
But back to "Sabotage II" making no sense.
The show, which debuted at Riverside in spring 2001 and toured Canada last summer, is to theater as Monty Python was to television. Like Monty Python, the malleable hour-long production can turn on a dime as easily as it inserts jokes about the jokes the two are telling at any given time - as well as turning annoying audience noises like a pager chirp into a joke about crickets.
The important thing to remember is that you're watching two guys in pajamas on stage with no props, costumes or other theatrical aids.
"Sabotage II" is not for the faint-of-heart or those who need to be hand-held through an entire production. From the very beginning, the audience is placed in a world completely ruled by these two pajama-clad cads who use nothing more than voices and bodies to conjure their comedy. They are two guys who will do anything to make you laugh, including crawling around like cats.
Throughout the performance, Allen and Chavez demonstrate wonderful timing and a genuine rapport as well as the nerve that this kind of unorthodox comedy style demands.
Then there are the characters these two muster, like the hapless time-traveler Future Man, played by Chavez, whose recurring appearances grow more loquacious as the night goes on. Throw in Jennifer, a 14-year-old played by Allen who believes the Tooth Fairy is a superhero, Western movie caricature Desert Face Sam, played by Allen, and super-villain Mr. X, again played by Allen, and his nemesis Mr. Lowercase t, played by Chavez.
Above all, the comedic premises that Allen and Chavez present are solid. At a time when pre-packaged comedy is the norm and the like of Tom Green are hailed as comedic masterminds, it's encouraging to see comic actors whose approach and results are refreshing and challenging.
If the only live comedy you've ever witnessed is a stand-up comedian, you might want to check out Allen and Chavez when they debut "Sabotage III" at the Riverside Theater, which by then will be known as the Triplock Theater, in May. It may not make sense, but it's sure to make you laugh.
