Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have fought their first space war, according to the Star Wars-style written introduction that scrolls up the screen onstage. Humans now have no need to interact, as everything they need is delivered directly to them by Amazon Prime, and Bezos plans to completely take over the world with the most advanced AI ever: Alexo.
Alexo, played by Zach Zucker, is far better than Alexa. Alexo was created by Viggo Venn’s Dr Gepetto, whom he loves like a father (the Pinocchio reference is highly appreciated), but when he learns that Bezos truly owns and controls him, he runs away. His very short adventure is set to brilliant music from LA based funk band Thumpasaurus, who also make a quick acting debut as the riddle-obsessed guards of Amazon headquarters.
There are plenty of repeated jokes that probably should become irritating, but somehow don’t; a ridiculously elaborate mime of opening a window, the inexplicable appearance of John Travolta in Pulp Fiction in many of the projections, and the ‘good vibe’ created by Thumpasaurus are consistently and bizarrely hilarious, even the 20th time. Zucker’s over-the-top winking to the audience and Venn’s frequent corpsing and unintelligible dialogue are also more amusing than they should be, but the two clearly just have that effect on audiences.
Jonny Wooley (Bezos) is undoubtedly the funniest part of the show, his gravelly voice and evil character providing endless amusement. His incoherent babbling during the scene at the bar and his speech introducing Alexo at the Keynote launch are brilliant, and fully appreciated by the uproarious audience.
There are times when it feels a bit slow, and the story itself seems like it has been stretched to fit the hour slot, but for the most part it is a ridiculously funny show.
Zach & Viggo and Thumpasaurus: Where Does the Love Go is on at 21:20 at Underbelly, Cowgate until August 26th. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the EdFringe website.
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