Certain things transcend barriers: music, art and - most importantly- pizza.
But laughter is a close second.
And Tita Jokes had me laughing from the start to the finish.
While I saw more sketch comedy over this Fringe than ever before, this was one of the most coherent, dynamic and hilarious that I was fortunate enough to come across. The Tita Collective is smart in how they begin by setting each of them to represent a ‘stock’ character that then lays the foundations for every sketch that comes after it. This type of planning is really fantastic as not only do they each get the chance to play to their own strengths, but the entire concepts improve by being more than the sum of their parts.
It’s a fierce production that isn’t afraid to poke fun at the fact that many people there likely wont get the jokes, which they brilliantly work into the joke itself. (Can confirm I was picked on in the audience, and it made me love it even more)
This show does not require you to be Filipinx in order to appreciate it. The writing itself is smart, snappy and the energy is bountiful.
Now as always not every sketch lands. Some go on a bit too long, but most of the sketches I can still recall two weeks later which is an exceptional achievement.
And as a confession: I do not like Bruno Mars. (Don’t hate me. My ex played Grenade for me at a party just after we broke up so it’s not my fault) But somehow I suspect they’ll forgive me.
Is it high art? No. But I’d consider this show an important benchmark for this Fringe and other festivals to keep their eye on. It takes a theme and runs with it. It’s self aware without being too inside joke-y. It catered to a specific audience without being alienating to others. This is how to do Fringe and do it well.
Magaling Titas!