Review: Hold On To Your Butts at LOWRY is ‘a masterclass in comedy, creativity and chaos’

Recent Cutbacks roar into The Lowry theatre for their imaginative and inspired three-person comedy show, Hold On To Your Butts that brings the story of the Jurassic Park film to the stage like you’ve never seen before.

As a theatrical parody of Jurassic Park, the plot follows the same threads as the 1993 film where John Hammond creates a theme park featuring dinosaurs brought to life thanks to genetic cloning on the island of Isla Nublar, near Costa Rica, and he invites experts in an attempt to get his park certified for safety.

Hold On To Your Butts at LOWRY

The cast of Recent Cutbacks deliver the film’s narrative but use a minimalist set consisting of a small screen and a sound stage used to complement the performer’s own wide range of physical comedy to retell the story with hilariously chaotic results.

The cast is made up of two performers, Jack Baldwin and Charlie Richards who play every role from the original Jurassic Park film, both people and dinosaurs, with use of hand puppets, props and even some helpful members of the audience.

The excellent cast seamlessly and effortlessly change from character to character as they channel the movies famous characters such as from Sam Neill’s Alan Grant, Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond to his young grandchildren, Lex and Tim, all while bringing their own comedic takes to the characters that never fail to bring the laughs while staying true to the original characters and story.

Jack Baldwin as Jeff Goldblum

This can be seen when Jack Baldwin channels Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, donning his signature glasses, his spot on impression delights audiences at every turn.

And the cast isn’t complete without Foley Artist Charlie Ives who from her soundstage delivers a range of impressive sound effects that both builds the show’s humour and creates a cinematic atmosphere.

Fitting a full-length parody film into a theatre show with a runtime of an hour is no easy task. However, Hold Onto Your Butts manages it with aplomb with a well-paced parody show jampacked with jokes that never stops moving from start to finish.

The way the actors switch into so many different roles and scenes seamlessly is always a fun watch as the Recent Cutbacks’ cast find new ways to highlight Jurassic Park in a new hilarious light.

Excellent lighting design for Christopher Nairne

A strength of the show is how they make great use of sound, lighting (lighting designer Christopher Nairne) and props and costumes (costume supervisor Sophie Andrews) to great effect.

From hilariously using frames as a substitute for closeups from the film to recreating the famous velociraptor chase through the aisles of a darkened theatre.

Foley Artist Charlie Ives is excellent at creating a wide array of sound effects ranging from footsteps, vehicles and dinosaur calls (from a distance) that makes the show sound and feel cinematic and serves as a great example of how sound can be used to enhance a comedy performance.

A parody that satisfies both fans of the film franchise and newcomers, Hold On To Your Butts is an inventive and brilliantly fun comedy with laughs to be had all show round.

Tickets for Hold On To Your Butts at LOWRY

Hold On To Your Butts is currently showing at The Lowry until the 15th February. Tickets can be bought here