In the world of foolish mortals, there are two men that who the cake. Their names are Moonie and Broon, two performers whose show mixes improvisation, vaudevillian stunts, bizarre songs, and a whole lot of mayhem on stage, some of it planned, while most of it not.
Moonie and Broon came together working Renaissance Fairs across the United States, many times sharing the same stage. Soon they started popping up in each other’s shows until Moonie became a fixture of Broon’s final show. Their act grew from there; the two are such a wonderful force on stage because they seem to feed off the antics of each other.
Before the show on January 21, people were lined up at both doors of the small auditorium at the Dean Lesher Center, trying to jock for the front rows of the theater. Many people at the show had seen Moonie and Broon before; some even drove from as far away as San Bernardino to see the two perform.
As the lights dimmed, Moonie walked out on stage with acoustic guitar in hand.
Moonie, who normally does a mime routine that includes a tight rope walk and juggling act, opted to perform some of his songs on this evening, much to the delight of the crowd. With songs about suffocating gold fish and skydivers without parachutes, who wouldn’t laugh?
One of the crowd favorites is a song dubbed “The Boob Song,” a hilarious musical number about what might happen if a man went on a makeover television show. In the song, a man gets breast implants and enjoyed some “me” time. Moonie then went into a crowd favorite of “I Could Have Been a Fireman.” As he performed this song, he stumbled and stopped, saying “Man [if] I see one kid in the front row making a bored face…I am gone.” He laughed then looked out to the crowd. “Yeah you, I am talking about you”, he said, pointing at a young person in the crowd mocking the face they where making, which got a good laugh. He tried to start the song again but again forgets the words, explaining “I really should have rehearsed this.”
With that, a man who was much taller than Moonie walked out on stage, driving the crowd into even wilder applause, for it was none other than Broon. Broon asked Moonie why he hadn’t been introduced after the boob song, adding, “By the way folks, he didn’t run the boob song by me, he just said ‘I am doing a song about boobs,’ and ran on stage.”
After a bit of banter, Moonie began walking toward Broon with a bloodstained straightjacket. Broon had been in an accident earlier in the year performing a stunt involving the same straightjacket in which he tragically plummeted to the ground, breaking many bones and losing consciousness. Broon, backing away kindly, asked Moonie not to wave the bloodstained side of the jacket in his face. Moonie then began to rub the bloodstained side of the jacket with his hands and on his limbs and face, to which Broon cringed and said “You know if I die tonight, my DNA is on your hands.”
Moonie then dropped the straightjacket and started licking his hands, realizing too late what he was doing. He then ran over and began licking Broon’s face and shirt, causing the audience to both cringe and laugh at the same time.
Broon then put on the straightjacket for a standing (rather then hanging) straightjacket escape. After putting on the straightjacket with the help of a somewhat reluctant audience member, Broon started to ramble about how the escape was going to work Moonie then returned to the stage with a strip of duct tape in hand and proceeded to duct tape Broon’s mouth shut. Moonie then grabbed his guitar and started playing “I Could Have Been a Fire Man” again as his partner escaped from the straightjacket. Some other highlights of Broon’s show included him attempting to balance a ladder on his chin. As he was trying to balance the huge object, he heard a woman in the crowd talking, so he stopped what he was doing and started talking to the audience member, telling her how rude it was to talk during a show. He then told her to pick a card without any deck in sight. She was obviously confused and remained cautious, but named a card anyway. Broon pulled a random playing card from his pocket and said “Yay, your right, now you’ve been in the show”, tossing the card over his shoulder without revealing it. More silliness ensued as he juggled a pair of swords and an apple which he ate while juggling and all the while saying
The show’s climax features the two performing on stage together, doing random bits of improv mixed with more insane feats of near-inhuman talent, such as flipping lit cigarettes into each other’s mouths.
At one point, Broon starts coughing from the smoke despite the fact neither of the pair smoke. When Moonie questions what he is doing, Broon replies with “I have to keep it lit.” to which Moonie yells, “then why are you in haling?!” The show finishes with a final stunt: Broon lying on a bed of nails with Moonie breaking a brick on his chest. Broon’s last words to Moonie before the brick was broken: “Don’t miss low.”
Moonie and Broon’s show brings absolute hilarity to those lucky enough to see it; it’s so hard to accurately describe in words how funny the pair truly are. I highly recommend them to anyone who loves to laugh. They bring back the age-old glory of vaudevillian comedy; a style many thought was lost long ago. They are also extremely nice to all their fans who are lucky enough to meet them.
Erin, a loyal fan and follower of the fools commented after the show “Moonie and Broon are brilliant improvisational comedians. They are clever and witty in ways that other improv geeks can only dream of. Along with being ridiculously hilarious, they are really sweet and personable individuals.”
Once you see these guys, it’s like you’re in on a wonderful joke. Next time they come through, make sure to take the time to see them live; you will leave with your guts aching and a smile on your face.
