Super scandal brothers reveal super secrets

By Tim Suffrendini
STAFF WRITER

Photo By Rosella Brown, PHOTO EDITOR A Scene From Super Scandal Brothers

Questions like where did Bowser go after he was defeated, did Mario and company live happily ever after in the Mushroom Kingdom, and what is Yoshi and where did it come from, are still ringing in the players’ minds.

The Pretentious Improv Group answers all of these questions and more for the avid and casual Mario Brothers fans with their production of Super Scandal Brothers every Monday from Feb. 11 to March 10 from 8 until 10 p.m.

Super Scandal Brothers picks up 15 years after Mario and Luigi defeated Bowser in a climactic battle of good versus evil. In those 15 years a lot of changes have taken place in the Mushroom Kingdom. The once happy and successful Mushroom Kingdom is now dangerously teetering on the edge of collapse thanks to some poor management by Luigi (Kevin Miner). Meanwhile, Mario (Derrick Belkin), is suffering from severe Mushroom withdrawals since the apparent theft of his Mushroom stash.

Princess Peach (Bethany Young) has become a victim to bouts of sleeping sickness, often falling asleep for days at a time. She is frequently plagued with cryptic visions of the past when she is awake.

Princess Daisy (Eve Privman) has become bitter after playing second fiddle to Peach and Mario all these years and currently plots ways to force Luigi to take over the kingdom.

In the past 15 years, Yoshi (Alicia Lauricella) has grown into a teenager. Surprisingly, it turns out that Yoshi has been a girl all along — a teenage girl who secretly harbors jealousy of Peach and Daisy’s status as princesses. Toad’s (James Battaglia) personality has turned wild and paranoid. He often gives the other characters mysterious advice and information as long as it suites his mysterious own ends.

Bowser (Lucas Hadley) has recently been released from the Goomba prison where he spent the past 15 years contemplating his crime and trying to become a reformed villain. He now owns a juice bar that Mario gave him to show there were no hard feelings in their relationship.

The performance is a well-constructed series that keeps the audience in stitches with even more unbelievable controversies heaped atop others. Unlike the kind of short improv that most of us are used to from TV shows or from the Barrel of Monkeys improv group, this type of long-form improv works off a continuous and winding storyline making the viewers feel like they’re watching a combination of “Days of Our Lives” and “Whose Line is it Anyway?”

The performance is also interactive for the viewers. Halfway through the show one of the characters takes the hot-seat and fields questions from people in the audience, often resulting in the revelation of hilarious back-story traits about the characters, or breaking out into a small Mario-themed improv show in itself. Additionally, there are multiple other elements in the show that build suspense and keep the audience begging for more when the session ends.

In the first performance, each of the cast received a small egg containing a secret about another character. These secrets will undoubtedly be used as ammunition as all of the characters duke it out with their personal agendas and plans. Super Scandal Brothers is the kind of show that gives people a new reason to look forward to Mondays.