A duo enters the stage seemingly unprepared. Having nothing to perform, they stutter and stammer while they try to come up with material. This quickly results into hilarious scenes with a dark undertone, in which the spectators often are put on a wrong track. Nothingness turns out to be a recurring theme throughout the piece. Having no material, it’s a show that has no real content, only two performers desperatly trying to save theirselves.
The piece messes with the expectations of a show, within the context of the festival it performed. It can be interpreted as a reaction against the compelling force that there always has to be ‘something’, especially in the field of entertainment.
Variety Show is inspired by the stand-up of Andy Kaufman, who manifested an enigmatic persona through disguises and characters. With unclear intentions, you often would not be sure of what you see is a part of the performance or that the whole thing is falling apart before your eyes. If done right this results in a form where the audience is always one step behind of the makers, leaving them completely puzzled.
"Brussaard en De Bruyne zijn raadselachtige jongens met een onontkoombare aanwezigheid"
"Beiden hebben een enorme uitstraling, een merkwaardige mengeling van eigenheid, trots, dreiging en onvoorspelbaarheid. Hun Variety show is verrassend authentiek"
"Het is allemaal even knullig, maar het fascineert mateloos"
"De overtuigend gebrachte nietsigheid schuurt en prikkelt, en zet op een spannende manier aan het denken over ons onstilbaar verlangen naar vermaak en de volstrekte leegheid waarmee we dat verlangen meestal stillen"