Is there a funnier house in all of Little Rock on this particular foggy November evening? No.
Members of Red Octopus Theater are gathered around a west Little Rock table. Well, most of them. Ten. Director and head writer Sandy Baskin hasn’t arrived. Neither has cast member and head writer Josh Doering. The setting is a brick house in a subdivision just off Napa Valley Road. It’s a few days short of Thanksgiving, and Red Octopus is preparing for a first-week rehearsal of sketches for the upcoming annual Christmas mock-fest Pagans on Bobsleds XX.
It’s an early rehearsal for next weekend’s shows. As the group waits for Baskin and Doering, cast member, writer and homeowner Michael Goodbar’s extra-large kitchen table is full of chattering. To get an idea of where Red Octopus members’ brains are, topics include the worth of a new Muppets film without its sage Jim Henson, Woody Allen’s Rhodes Scholar son and Survivor. The table is littered with folders and scripts, and bottled and canned drinks, including cast member and writer David Weatherly’s Arizona Arnold Palmer Half and Half drink. Cast member Christi Seatts has brought funfetti cupcakes.
Baskin and Doering soon arrive, separately, and Red Octopus Theater begins the task of piecing together its annual Christmas show. The double Xs in the Pagans on Bobsleds title means it’s the 20th year of the comedy show that knows no boundaries.
“Usually we have a different name for it,” Doering says, “but because it’s the 20th year we just figured 20 should be enough.”
The sketch comedy troupe started in 1991 with a $100 donation from WordsWorth Books & Co. and an invite from Vino’s owner Henry Lee, who welcomed the theater at his club. While the troupe has performed full-length shows, for the past 10 years or so Red Octopus has been known for its sketch comedy. And performances are now at The Public Theatre.
Pagans on Bobsleds is an annual laugh riot with past Christmas shows mocking superheroes, Donald Rumsfeld, Brad Pitt, cavemen, Mafia men, Dr. Seuss, Brokeback Mountain and Mary Tyler Moore. While Red Octopus does often invoke the “Too-Soon Rule” and cast members can opt out of skits they might disagree with, there is really nothing or nobody off limits.
“For the most part it is open season on everybody,” cast member Bart Haynie says. “There are no sacred cows that won’t be slaughtered. [Christmas is] so close to home for everybody. There is so much to pick apart.”
Films such as It’s a Wonderful Life might treat Christmas with reverence, but lately Christmas has become the No. 1 holiday to poke fun at. Think Christmas Vacation or Bad Santa. And let’s not forget South Park and its tales of Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo. Christmas is an easy target. But why do we satirize it? There’s the absurdity of the bribery aspect of being nice so we can receive presents, Doering says, but there are many other reasons why Christmas deserves mocking. Too much consumerism. Too many gaudy decorations. Too many bogus emotions.
“Look at comedic movies based around the holidays,” Weatherly says. “There’s tons [of humor] for the Christmas season because ... the season just lends itself to comedy on many different levels.”
Baskin, Doering and fellow head writer Jason Willey began writing for the show about three weeks ago along with Goodbar and Weatherly. The group threw out ideas based on what is current, and on what films or TV shows they’d watched. They dig up sketches from the past for bringing back, too.
“I get an idea and start working on it,” Weatherly says. “It takes me a long time to write. But I feel comedy is an all-inclusive thing so I go to people and ask them what they think. Depending on reactions, I go back and write a little bit more. I like to get reactions as I’m writing.”
It’s an ongoing process. Tonight’s rehearsal is only the troupe’s second for Pagans on Bobsleds, and, following a short Thanksgiving break, Red Octopus will rehearse continuously until next week’s shows. The show will feature between 25 and 35 sketches. It all depends.
“It’s all about the timing,” Baskin says. “Some [sketches] are literally 30 seconds long and some can be six minutes long. This show will be a solid two hours.
“It’s an on-going process. A writer has to have a strong ego because things are definitely going to be cut.”
Sitting at the table, watching the hijinks, I worry about Weatherly’s continuous consumption of Arizona Arnold Palmer Half and Halfs, but also laugh right along with the cast as they run through some of the sketches. One of the first rehearsed of the night is “I Do Declare.” Baskin and cast member Lesley Dancer play Southern belles, with Doering, Weatherly and Willey playing Southern gentleman.
“I say, the Christmas meal was divine,” says Doering in the opening lines, playing up a Foghorn Leghorn Southern accent to humorous effect, before the sketch evolves into genital humor between the guys with the ladies soon joining in. It’s a rough run through, with the gathered cast often interrupting the rehearsal with laughter, but the punch line brings the house down.
Other sketches cover exploring a friend’s Jewish heritage at a party, and short sketches about organisms and a product called Palm Balm. Between sketches it’s organized chaos. A bit of random dialogue captured on my iPhone recorder? “Fresca’s made a big comeback.”
Before I depart the rehearsals, the troupe runs through comedic reinterpretations of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” praising fruitcake and Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” with the title character replaced by Santa singing about a “reindeer making love to his eggnog and gin.”
Are the parts of Pagans On Bobsleds XX I heard mostly profane? Yes, but not excessively so. Plus it’s intelligently funny. An old comic maxim says: Crudity is acceptable at a certain level, but as the number of genital jokes rises the intelligence level falls.
Fortunately, Red Octopus hits the right balance in Pagans on Bobsleds XX. You need laughter this Christmas season? Go watch Pagans On Bobsleds XX.
SEE THE SHOWS
Red Octopus Theater is hosting its 20th Christmas show with Pagans On Bobsleds XX at The Public Theatre in downtown Little Rock at 616 Center St. on Dec. 7-10 with performances taking place at 8 p.m. each night. Admission is $10 for adults, and $8 for students and senior citizens. Pagans On Bobsleds XX is not intended for children. The lobby opens at 7:15 p.m. each night for advance ticket sales (credit cards are not accepted), or tickets can be reserved by calling (501) 291-3896 or emailing redoctopustheater@gmail.com.
The cast includes Sandy Baskin, Aaron Bell, Brooks Caruthers, Brian Chambers, Lesley Dancer, Josh Doering, Michael Goodbar, Bart Haynie, Grant Morris, Christi Seatts, Evan Tanner, David Weatherly and Jason Willey with Luke Rowland running the lights.