A sketch that deserves mention would be "Can You Service?" which parodies Singapore's own "Can You Serve?" reality TV competition series, and even Denise Keller. Not gonna spoil the fun but this sketch teaches you that the customers are not always right and that it is alright to not make things easy for the customers.
Another prominent sketch in the first half was Pondan News Asia. I have obviously heard of this sketch before and it's always the sketch I look forward to. What can be more entertaining than 2 gay men bringing you the latest, hardest and horniest news in entertainment? The focus was on iPondan, the new product of Apple or rather the "sister" product to iPhone.
The hosts, Jonathan and Rodney, invited the "representative of Apple" to introduce the audience to the new apps which catered to the users, for example, an app which could identify the gays around you by a pink dot. Furthermore, the iPondan didn't have antennae issues like the iPhone 4, a problem that was easily resolved by the difference in the way gay men and straight men hold their phones. Genius!
Jonathan and Rodney were of course excited (no pun intended) and Rodney exclaimed about the large number of pink dots in a 50m radius. The funniest has to be, hands down, the app which could allow you to view the profiles of people around you provided they were logged in. They found certain interesting profiles such as "Cherry Boy", "The Expandables" and "Optimus Prime". The app then revealed that the spokesperson for Apple was not as geeky and innocent as we thought, further reiterated by Jonathan's cheeky comment, "iPondan? Not so far off!" I particularly enjoyed Rodney's portrayal of a gay man in this sketch for his performance was so real and I wish he had more lines.
The Ip Man 2 parody provided us with an interesting insight at the 5 classifications of ratings, namely G, PG, NC16, M18 and R21, after which, the audience were allowed an interval.
The second half of Chesnuts had more "meat" and contained parodies of Inception (which explained how Jonathan had the idea to become a playwright for comedy sketches), December Rains, Ris Low's sister, and Fried Rice Paradise which was parodied to the music of Lady Gaga.
I have to applaud firstly, Jonathan Lim for his wonderful simultaneous performance of "Home" and a song from December Rains titled "请你告诉他". He switched between the 2 songs every line and he must have switched probably, I don't know... 30 times? Also, without a doubt, he has to be given the highest accolade possible for script writing for his genius and creative script for Chestnuts.
And secondly, Judee Tan for her amazing and perfect imitation of Ris Low's sister, Ivory Low IQ. Her accent is spot on, including the awkward pauses and mispronounced syllables. I particularly enjoyed the way she said "knnccb". She taught us the YOG cheer performed by JJ Lam and even sang for us. Oh god, bless thy soul. That being said, that was easily one of the best (if not the best) sketch in the play and it thoroughly deserved a standing ovation. I was even lucky enough to have the honor of speaking to Judee in person to convey to her how astounding her performance was as Ris Low and Ivory Low.
Random note: I really like Rodney's accent. Somehow it doesn't sound false or forced when Singaporeans try to speak with an accent. I don't know, is it just me? But I would totally listen if he read the phonebook or did the reading of Gatz.
Overall, Chestnuts has delivered yet another impeccable performance. I know it's just my second year and who am I to judge or critique? But trust me when I say you have to catch this play next year and I really suggest that you be prepared because you will be laughing so hard at their punchlines, fantastic one-liners and sexual innuendos that you would wish you could literally roll up and down the carpeted aisle. I have even included a picture of this year's nutty cast just for your entertainment, just make sure you clean up after you're done.
From left: Rodney, Judee, Dwayne and Jonathan
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