When I was a little boy, what I wanted to be when I grew up changed every couple of hours: Tarzan, police officer, ninja warrior to name a few.
Jeromaia Detto takes on this concept of childhood wishes and creates an incredibly sweet and funny show called "When I Grow Up" running at The Wee Coo at Underbelly George Square.
It opens up with a voiceover of children telling us all what they want to be when they grow up. It's so cute to hear them, and the audience is chuckling along at the innocence of it all and a shared sense of childhood nostalgia.
When the voiceovers end, Detto is sitting in the audience with us, telling us he is waiting for the show to start. His clowning is tremendous as he works through the crowd to get the show started. Writing something down on a piece of paper and popping it in to a bucket. Hinting to us all that we should do it. It's slow at first, but eventually we have people jumping out of their seats to write something down.
When it all ends, Detto gets to work taking the suggestions out of a bucket. What happens next is an hour of belly laughs and becoming a child again.
Detto is so respectful of his audience, asking permission for them to come on stage to play pretend as he clowns his way through the suggestions.
Some of the best from the show I saw were Detto becoming a member of ABBA, a concert pianist, a polka music stripper, and a bean farmer: The Master of The Beans!!!
The show has its limits though. It is very much at the mercy of audience suggestions and how people may behave on stage. I have to congratulate Detto on his utmost professionalism as he did have to deal with an exasperatingly difficult audience member, who stormed the stage with chants