The Video Games

My overall impression

I had the pleasure of catching “The Video Games” on their Preview night and was pleasantly surprised at the full house. In short, the production unfolds into an audience elected “Choose Your Own Adventure” style show with a sweet blend of Video Game Character reminiscence, wall to wall acts of pure violence, and loosely scripted improv… in all the best ways possible. The black box is packed full of actors, each representing characters from numerous video games of multiple genres, all suited in make-shift costumes gathered together in a lampoon of The Hunger Games. After introductions are made, the show unfolds into a fun event of blood, sweat, and tears… and bananas. Each character is teamed together to fight to the death, all of which is partially controlled by audience participation: whether through the cheers of the colosseum, or voting hashtags on Twitter, each choice is addressed with wonderfully choreographed melee fights and all out brawls. At times, some of the dialogue gets muddled through everyone yelling over each other, and a few improv moments missed the mark, while other moments were absolutely hilarious (granted, it was preview night, so some kinks had to be ironed out). Although my game character knowledge is lacking a bit, the show definitely delivers with quintessential character staples as the fights unleash in front of you. Signature moves from multiple characters create a hilarious reaction from the audience, and every vote offers great pay-offs for the fan favorites as the production comes to an end. For me, the best part of the show is witnessing the reaction of the Games’ Winner. For the actor, they truly have no idea who will get to play each night, and to watch a genuine smile grow across their blood covered face was worth it. In the end, I highly recommend this show for anyone who wants an evening of action-packed laughs and a taste of nostalgia. Whether you claim Nerd Culture or not, go enjoy the obvious hard work this team put into the production. Top notch fights, with top notch laughs. I vote “The Video Games” to be around for awhile. Have Fun!