It didn't have anything to do with clowns, but "A Thousand Clowns" received few laughs Saturday at Riverwalk Theatre, 228 Museum Drive in Lansing.
The theater's second production for the season was somewhat entertaining, but all in all was an average play performed with average acting.
The story stars Murray, an unemployed TV writer in New York City who has too much time on his hands. He spends most of it at home with his abandoned, 12-year-old nephew.
Because of Murray's financial status, social workers visit the pair and decide the environment is unfit for a child, causing Murray to reevaluate his life's decisions.
The first act started slow, simple and boring. Bruce Bennett, who played Murray, converses with his nephew (Jonathan Turkus) much of the first scene.
The two argue about Murray's financial status and that argument sets the theme for the rest of the play - Murray needs to find work.
Murray's outdated punch lines such as "He's a fruit nut," and "Gosh, golly, you betcha," made the comedy flimsy and dull. Few chuckles were heard, but most audience members struggled to smile.
Murray's girlfriend Sandra only made the comedy less funny and more cheesy. Played by Priscilla Burch, Sandra was supposed to be Murray's drive and motivation, but the actress' poor speech and exaggerated acting only made the first act harder to endure.
When talking to Murray's nephew about his favorite toy, Burch would close her eyes as if trying to capture that feeling of having a favorite toy as a child. Numerous times she would overemphasize certain words and phrases making her performance seem like a high school production.
By the second act, however, the play took a turn for the better.
The immature and overly optimistic Murray is still annoying, but Bennett gave a good performance in displaying the "deeper side" of the silly character.
He successfully relays Murray's struggle: Not being able to find a job, but being happy regardless.
When Don Gochberg and Anthony Sump took the stage, the comedy's humor finally shined.
The pair made up for the previous lack of humor with jokes, vivacious performances and loud entrances. The few chuckles the audience had struggled to give before were soon abandoned as the audience awoke with laughter
Although they were sideline characters, Gochberg and Sump were the stars of the night.
The few flaws, including some of the acting, the out-dated jokes and the stagehands' rearrangement of the stage in-between scenes, were things that director Tom Ferris could have left out or improved.
Although a thousand laughs may not have been heard, "A Thousand Clowns" was still entertaining and told a good story people can relate to.
