What do you get when you mix a handful of the best female improvisers in town with one relative newcomer? The answer can be found late night every Friday and Saturday through May 24 at Hamtramck's Planet Ant Theatre when the original comedy "Code Foxy: Man Down!" storms the stage.
A silly, sexy spoof of the classic television series "Charley's Angels," the 55-minute comedy features the talents of Tiger Ride – improvisers Lauren Bickers, Anne Faba, Suzan Jacokes, Cara Trautman and Kathryn Trepkowski – who earned the Late Night spot by beating the competition in the recent Winter 08 Improv Festival. And now, under the expert guidance of director Nancy Hayden and assistant director Jaime Moyer, the team returns to claim its prize, the result of which earned the team near-constant laughter from start to finish on opening night.
And you don't need to be a fan of Bosley and his ravishing private eyes to enjoy it!
Like their television rivals, the Foxy Tiger Agency was created by the rich and reclusive Mr. Tiger as his very own all-girl crime fighting team. Consisting of three stunning beauties and his frumpy daughter Pam, each carefully-chosen member of the team brings unique abilities to the squad that help solve their first case: the mysterious death of Pam's grandfather. (He fell from a second floor window and was impaled on a fence.) Pam's detective skills determined the death was accidental – she's a former cop – but her twin sister Sugar arrives unexpectedly from Tokyo with shocking news: A local drug lord was responsible for their grandfather's demise. So the Foxy Tiger Agency and tagalong Sugar execute a plot to catch the vile, coke-dealing murderer.
They do so, of course, with great hilarity and plenty of jiggle – thanks to top-notch comedic execution by Tiger Ride.
The gorgeous Faba plays former CIA agent Summer-Winter Tiger to perfection – a sweet, dumb blonde with occasional bouts of stunning brilliance. (Just how many different dresses does she wear, someone in the audience asked after yet another quick costume change.) But her dimwittedness is most delightful setting up the show's surprise Sapphic conclusion.
Jacokes (better known as the recently-married Suzan Gouine) commands the stage as the bossy, know-it-all Pam Tiger and never lets up. She's especially adept at using her expressive face and body to quickly and powerfully convey a message. (Her first, brief appearance proves just that.)
Trepkowski, the least experienced improviser, delivers laughs every time sexy two-time Nobel laureate Dr. Raven Tiger takes a walk.
And Trautman, as former assassin Chassy Tiger (the black character who happens to be played white), has some of the show's grooviest lines. "Murder. That ain't cool."
But it's Bickers who has the most interesting and best developed character in the show – Sugar Tiger, the drug-and-sex-loving lead singer of a popular rock band in Japan. And she plays it without compromise.
The show's staging is filled with every imaginable cliche of the genre – from heaving breasts (of which there are plenty) and breathy line delivery to frozen poses and slow motion fight scenes. And it wouldn't be nearly as funny any other way!
REVIEW:
'Code Foxy: Man Down!'
Planet Ant Theatre, 2357 Caniff, Hamtramck. 10:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday through May 24. $5. For information: 313-365-4948 or http://www.planetant.com.
