Between
A fun, fast-paced and impressive dash through the original trilogy.
Ross guides his audience through the series almost scene by scene, breaking things down to key dialogue points, supported by sound effects, impressions, and impressive mime. While Ross’s Darth Vader is a little weak (to be fair: James Earl Jones is one-of-a-kind), his R2D2 is impeccable. And his mime never fails to be evocative; clearly driven by his high-energy, Ross was sweating profusely by the end of the show. At it’s best, I was able to see the scene being represented, as if his actions were overlaid by a film projection.
This devoted imitation lays the groundwork for the humour. His pace is unrelenting, up until the point he stops for an aside, commenting on the particular idiosyncrasies of the franchise. Though his jokes aren’t always original (Anakin is whiny, Chewie deserves a medal at the end of Part IV, too, and isn’t it weird that the twins kiss?), it’s delivered with enough energy and sincerity that I wanted to laugh, just to join him in the fun.
But it is definitely the case that one’s enjoyment of the show is directly proportional to his or her knowledge of the franchise. I’d say that I know Star Wars pretty well, but I don’t particularly recall every scene that happens in the desert before Anakin meets Obi-Wan (do you?), and so I couldn’t “see” these scenes as they were re-enacted, and I lost my connection to the thread of the story, picking up again at the next recognisable scene. That happened a few times, mostly around the complicated battle sequences that are most difficult to recreate, but every time, I found my way back to the story, and my enjoyment of it.
This is the perfect show for someone has a frame-for-frame memory of the Star Wars series. Even for the more casual fan, it’s a fun, fast-paced and impressive dash through the original trilogy. “The force is strong with this one.”
