Review: Creepy Boys: SLUGS, Summerhall

Watching S.E. Grummett and Sam Kruger slither on stage in sleeping bags is, funnily enough, not the strangest occurrence in Creepy Boys: SLUGS. The comedy duo put on a sort of techno concert-come-puppet show, complete with exposed genitals, singing, and regurgitated beans.

At the beginning, they announce through song that the show is about “nothing”, a welcome escape from all the madness and destruction going on in the world. However, they soon realise that nothing always turns into something. The first instance of this is the “T word”. Once Grummett discloses that they are trans, they soon realise that everything they do thereafter becomes political, offering an ironic commentary on today’s political climate.

To get around this, the duo’s answer is googly eyes. For example, putting googly eyes on a gun makes it less threatening, as does putting them on your genitals. In doing so, they argue, these things are transformed from “something” into “nothing”.

In this bizarre production, Kruger’s microphone often slipped off due to his enthusiastic dancing and headbanging. His exuberance is infectious and has the audience laughing and cheering; but at times the relentless energy becomes overwhelming. The constant movement, noise and frenetic pace prove difficult to absorb. 

A highlight is the puppet show, which uses paper puppets to bring surreal scenes to life. An alien invasion in which a cow and a tractor rise into the sky is one, and a monologue from a Joni Mitchell puppet is another. This creativity is both inventive and entertaining. 

For a show about nothing, Creepy Boys cover a lot of ground. For all its chaos and absurdity, the production has serious points to make, either advertently or inadvertently. It’s playful, unpredictable and certainly unique. At times, it can be overwhelming, but perhaps that is part of Grummett’s and Kruger’s point: in a world that refuses to slow down, neither does this production.

Written & Performed by S.E. Grummett and Sam Kruger

Creepy Boys: SLUGS plays at TechCube 0 at Summerhall until Monday 17 August