'Confidently awkward' is an oxymoron if there ever was one.
There are awkward attempts at confidence and there’s confidently retelling awkward experiences, but few are confident at being awkward. However, Brisbane sketch comedy duo Cheeky Moon displayed that quality to hilarious effect in their show ‘Lickety Split’.
The duo of Alistair Craig and Claire Coe delighted with sketches taking awkward situations to surprising extremes. A sketch about a spy who can’t help but wiggle his bow tie during missions displays this well; when the sketch appeared finished, the scene suddenly changed direction while still continuing its original idea. However, instead of stretching the one idea thin, the pair threw in a number of fresh gags to keep the sketches moving and laughs flowing.
It’s obvious they’re great writers with the way their sketches deceive and surprise audiences, even in ideas as simple a Christmas song by No Doubt. But it’s the pair’s acting and commitment to their ideas which sells the comedy.
They threw themselves into ideas no matter how daft, from the extremes taken to make a corny pie pun to a dystopic prediction made during a job interview. A slam poetry performance by the Mario Brothers rings a lot of laughs from their sincere recital and how deep they go into the characters’ history.
Weaved throughout the show was a plot about the different future directions of Cheeky Moon – one wishes to leave, while the other wants to devote all of their time to the group. Despite their staged miscommunication, the pair shared a brilliant chemistry that led to more hilarity when together. Hopefully Cheeky Moon avoid splitting and stretch their future as far as their ideas
