When one thinks ‘children show’, images of colourful, wide-eyed performers with a repository of endless energy come to mind. But what happens when one sarky French man in a dark suit leads children and parents alike through an hour with something for everyone?
Marcel Lucont is the host of a game show for terrible children. Made up of multiple rounds of different themes and tasks, the kids of the audience have ample chance to get picked from the crowd and participate. Whether it is trivia, making up rules for a kid-lead government or exposing the most embarrassing things their parents have done, the rounds were innovatively fresh and boundlessly engaging. It’s hard to tell if a kid would enjoy something unless you manage to get an answer out of them, or you are in fact a kid. But it is blatantly obvious in the way the kids would burst out of their seats to raise their hands for a chance to be picked, that they are having a ball.
But the kids aren’t the only ones having a ball. The parents are too. Lucont’s show does what a lot of children’s TV and films do. Sneaking in an adult joke or two that wafts over their kids’ heads. But instead of sneaking in a joke or two, it’s constant, quite blatant, and insanely funny. I mean, I am not a kid nor a parent and I was losing it at Lucont’s quippy remarks and on-the-ball reactions to the silly things kids do.
There are indeed kids shows that are less sunshine and rainbows, but they end up being quite creepy. This game show for terrible kids manages to deliver alternative kids content without inducing any sort of taruma, and that is a feat in itself. I can’t recommend this show more to kids and parents to make some lasting memories at the Fringe.
Marcel Lucont: Les Enfants Terribles – A Gameshow For Awful Children
14:55 @ Assembly George Square Gardens – Piccolo
Aug 21
