Charlie Chaplin’s Dead But that doesn’t Stop Him From making Us Laugh in Chap Snatchers! A True-ish Crime Story at Bryant Lake Bowl

A show that begins with the death of Charlie Chaplin has no right to be this funny. Created by Josh Carson, Neal Skoy, and Joshua English Scrimshaw, Chap Snatchers! will have you laughing out loud and possibly doing spit takes with the excellent food and drinks available at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater (BLB). The show combines Carson’s pop-culture-infused comedic voice, Skoy’s clowning instincts, and Scrimshaw’s perfectly executed slapstick. It’s a seamless blend of physical and verbal comedy. I don’t think I’ve seen an audience laugh this hard since A Very Die Hard Christmas last December at BLB.

Josh Carson plays Louie, a bartender at the gangster owned Cuckoo Club in a small, unpronounceable Swiss town. Louie dreams of moving up in the world, from serving drinks to committing crimes. Neal Skoy plays Marty, an inept janitor who longs to be a comedian and laments never meeting his idol, Charlie Chaplin. Together, the two hatch a ridiculous scheme to steal Chaplin’s corpse and ransom it to his widow, Oona. Throw into the mix a booze guzzling Night Club Singer, a mob boss, and a detective clearly meant to be Lt. Columbo.

The show also introduces a bright new talent in Joshua English Scrimshaw, who plays Chaplin himself. I’m not sure where this young man came from, but I’m sure we’ll see more of him in the future. With the exception of a silent prologue which, as mentioned, ends in Chaplin’s death, Scrimshaw performs the rest of the show as a corpse. I’ve never seen Weekend at Bernie’s, but I have to assume parts of this are inspired by it. The strong supporting cast adds layers of chaos and charm to the farce, but the real miracle here is how effortlessly the three creators’ comedic styles mesh into a single, riotous whole.

Chap Snatchers! A True-ish Crime Story runs through October 18 at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit bryantlakebowl.com/theater.

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