Thwak
We saw Thwak Friday night at the New Victory Theater in Times Square. It’s a show by the Umbilical Brothers, a mime/ventriloquist/human soundbox group from Australia.
Mime for the 21st Century! Their innovation was to do mime with, well, sound. The sounds generally came from the member of the pair wasn’t being the “action guy”, all sorts of sounds and imitations. The “human soundbox” guy on Police Academy has nothing compared to their range and precision — the Umbilical Brothers sound effects had to sync up with what they were doing on stage. The most stunning bit of syncronization was at the end, when they were tap dancing, with the tap sounds being generated from their voice boxes.
They’ll be at the New Victory until late this month, in case anyone wants to see them.