HOT. That was the first thing that went through my mind when Patrick Whalen took the stage as the handsome but distant, Christian Grey-like character, Hugh Hanson. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

SPANK! is a hilarious musical parody of the popular erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James.  I've never actually read any of the books (gasp!), so I brought along some one who has (and love it). Turns out I didn't really need to read the book. I read the Wiki page of Fifty Shades right before the show so I got the gist of the story, but I has laughing as hard as my friend. The performance had me and my friend laughing into stitches. It was one laugh after another. The show was littered with funny double entendres, pop culture references and the actors' expressions and body language were just priceless. And that body of Hugh's. Well! That was just icing on the cake. Also reading the Wiki definitely helped in getting some of the jokes made in reference to the origins of Fifty Shades book (eh-hem Twilight fan fiction...).

There were only three (very talented) actors in the whole show; Patrick Whalen played the smoldering Hugh Hanson (Christian Grey), Danielle Trzcinski played lip-biting, hardware store employee, Tasha Woode (Ana Steele), and Anne Marie Scheffler played the middle aged mother and author of the book, E.B. Janet (E.L. James). The show starts with E.B. Janet deciding to write her sex fantasy novel and creating the characters Hugh and Tasha. E.B. Janet is usually on the side of the stage with her keyboard loosely directing her character's actions. It's very funny as her own characters begin to question the believability of the story they are written in.

Not only do the characters interact with each other, they interact with the audience as well! I was not expecting that and neither were the people in the front row! The responses of those people were a hoot and Danielle Trzcinski was an expert at improvising and the other actors also used the audience responses later on in the show. It was such a coincidence that one of the audience members called upon to help Tasha's "sexual problems" worked in a sex shop...Yeah, I can't make this stuff up! I think it that, that made it even funnier. The interaction of the audience was some of my favourite parts! 

My friend said that it was one of the best comedy shows she's ever seen and I agree! I couldn't stop laughing!

Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody is playing at the Vogue Theatre in downtown Vancouver for two more days, November 15 & 16. Don't miss it! Prepare to be SPANKed! You'll be howling for more!

Please visit http://spankshow.com for more info. 


Disclosure: I received tickets to the show to review. No other compensation was received. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any other way.