Snack Boys

See the link- we were selected as a must see in the 2014 chicago sketch fest. - Redeye

Snack Boys

I first met Mike Migdall, one half of the Snack Boys, while waiting in line to see Rabbit Rabbit’s Sketchfest show. Considering how much I like Rabbit Rabbit, meeting under these circumstances created a favourable impression upon me. Mike invited me to come see the Snack Boys later that weekend, and I’m glad that he did. Mike Migdall and Adam Levin set the audience up for the frenetic show to come when the house opened and all that was onstage were two full-sized cardboard cutouts of the two actors… with holes punched out at the crotch. Okay, I thought, let’s see where this goes.

It went all over. Their first sketch was a song wherein the two performers hopped onstage in sleeping bags, rapping enthusiastically about being worms. One thing was immediately apparent: the Snack Boys have a great knack for matching energy. While their characters ranged from sniffy Founding Father types to Eastern European power singers, Migdall and Levin were always on the same level, committing as much to one another as to the characters.

The characters were all over the place; I’ve said that in regards to a number of different acts at Sketchfest this year, but this assortment was memorably bizarre. When they were Early American New Englanders, their discussion was epistolary, primarily being about the release from prison of the two characters from the previous sketch; but the postscripts of each monologue told another story, of sentient, psychic “lizard wolves” taking over Connecticut, presented as an afterthought to the primary story of the scene. There was also a horrifying but captivating piece where the two played… Serial killers? Spirits of Halloween? Shy Guys? I don’t know what it was I saw, exactly, but wearing blank masks and worn-through paper painting smocks, Levin and Migdall performed an almost-mime dance scene that was one part Halloween, one part Sesame Street.

Not all of the characters were as strong. There were a number of times in the show where the duo relied on cheap gay gags, of the seemingly harmless “edgy” kind that nonetheless makes actual gay audience members grimace, and which I had already seen so often from “edgy” groups at Sketchfest that I had to roll my eyes a little. The group is off-the-wall and distinct enough as it is, and we in the audience did not need the reminders that they are comfortable enough in their sexuality to use shallow gay humour.

All in all, however, this is a show that I recommend. While their sensibilities do not necessarily match mine, I am a notorious stick in the mud, whereas they have the charisma, strength of writing, and boldness to go far. Just as I am not a particular fan of the shock and spectacle of Two Bunnies Eating Flowers, but can acknowledge their prowess as entertainers; likewise, one can easily look past the minor things I found fault with in the self-directed Snack Boys show, and enjoy a very strong, energetic, and memorable revue. I bring up Two Bunnies Eating Flowers because I would say that Migdall and Levin fall somewhere between the blitzing circus of TBEF, and the polish and showmanship of Rabbit Rabbit.

Again, this is high praise coming from me. Snack Boys is definitely a sketch duo on the rise, and one to watch out for.

The Snack Boys can be found at the elusive Shithole, where they frequently try out new sketches. They are currently working on a sketch show pilot, and if you’re interested, you should follow them on Facebook. - The Sketch Review