Christopher Wayne remembers the first time he encountered the films of Quentin Tarantino.
“My dad let me watch ‘Reservoir Dogs’ with him because it was such a good gangster film,” he says. “I still remember that first time seeing that opening shot of them walking down that alleyway in slow-motion. I remember thinking, ‘This is the coolest f…ing thing I’ve ever seen!’ He’s literally been my favourite director since I was 12 years old. . .”
“I hope my parents don’t get in trouble for me saying that,” Christopher laughs.
Alongside Mike Tyler, Christopher is best-known for stripping down as part of 'The Naked Magicians', the beloved magic show that has toured everywhere from Las Vegas to London’s West End. Now, the pair are donning their producing suits to present their acclaimed play ‘Two Man Tarantino’ at this year’s Brisbane Comedy Festival.
As Chris tells, ‘Two Man Tarantino’ came to existence in 2018 when 'The Naked Magicians' toured the US.
“I was watching ‘Pulp Fiction’ on the plane and I was watching the dance scene and pictured how funny it would be if Mike and I recreated that scene,” Christopher says. “I literally just paused the film and told him the idea, and he laughs a little. I’m like, ‘there’s a story in this’. So I ended up writing this crazy concept, and it was just two people recreating every single Tarantino film.”
Co-written with Jack Kelly and director Maureen Bowra, ‘Two-Man Tarantino’ takes audiences to the last video store in Australia. There, a woman (Emily Kristopher) returns her video to a man (Stephen Hirst), but a twist leads to the pair having to recreate scenes from every single Tarantino film using only items that can be found in a video store, from the ‘Pulp Fiction’ dance scene to the violent carnage of the ‘Kill Bill’ films.
“I think that when you’re making a show about Tarantino, there’s just ingredients that are mandatory,” he says. “So, you’re going to have feet references, blood, a whole lot of coarse language, a Christopher Walken, and the whole audience doing the dance from ‘Pulp Fiction’. We tell our audience to not wear white, and the front two rows are called the splash zone. Anything with Tarantino in the title is going to have blood, and ‘Two Man Tarantino’ has plenty of it.”
Since ‘Two Man Tarantino’ played its two sold-out seasons, Tarantino has released his ninth film, ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’, which will feature in the play’s ‘reworked, post-pandemic’ Brisbane Comedy Festival run. While fans of the filmmaker can expect to spot hidden references to his films and life, those new to Tarantino can still expect over an hour of madcap mayhem presented by a team of Brisbane-based creatives.
“This show is injected with references, one-liners, and Easter eggs, non-stop,” Christopher says. “The more you know, the better it is, but even if you’ve never seen a Quentin Tarantino film you’ll still have a good time.”
“You don’t need to bring your thinking cap or know his films intimately – you can just come and switch off and laugh and get bloody. Literally, no other show in the festival has kung-fu, fake blood, or an excess of feet.”
‘Two Man Tarantino’ plays Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane Comedy Festival) 17-28 May.
