The Pajama Men: Last Stand To Reason DVD

Review by Bernard O'Leary | 18 Nov 2011

Apart from two chairs and a giant cardboard train, the stage is empty. Which is just as well. Any clutter would occupy valuable space needed for the enormous imagination and talent of Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez, The Pajama Men.

Last Stand To Reason is a play of sorts, set on a train with Allen and Chavez playing all of the passengers, staff, ghosts, lobsters and in-train entertainers. The very vague plot sees a detective interrogate a serial killer, while his invincible son falls for a dead girl. It's not really about plot though, it's about the incredible physicality of The Pajama Men, who make the train feel solid and real with well-chosen mimes, while delivering sketches written with a devastating wit. And spitting in each other's mouths. There is a five-minute sequence of spitting each other's mouths, it is grotesquely funny.

For the last few years, Allen and CHavez are establishing themselves as one of the world's must-see comedy acts (they're currently touring the UK and you must see them). Last Stand To Reason is an excellent introduction to the brilliant, baffling, brain-bending world of The Pajama Men.

Preview of 2010 Fringe performance of Last Stand To Reason