Gamarjobat - Rock 'n' Roll Penguin

With a dollop of rock 'n' roll and a tablespoon of mime, the recipe's a strange one but it works well

★★★★
archive review (edinburgh) | Read in About 1 minute
Published 05 Aug 2007

When the time-honoured traditions of rock 'n’ roll and mime have to fight for the affections of a festival crowd individually, they are too often branded with the tag of "old hat" unless they succeed in reinventing the wheel. Refreshingly, by uniting these forms of entertainment to produce something far from tired, the predominantly silent Japanese duo, Ketch and Hiropon – at this point becoming something of a fringe mainstay as
Gamarjobat – dare and win by bridging the lingual gap with their animated stunts.

Priming the funnybone with their slapstick antics, the colourfully mohawked two indulge in a slew of fast paced skits, not-so-sleight-of-hand mock limb amputations and a dose of steady riffing in the name of crowd-interactive comedy. The recipe’s a strange one but it works well and their unblinkered approach creates a rare synergy between the kids at the front and the adults at the back, equally spellbound by the cheek, charm and the sheer daftness of their style. As an hour of harmless, endearing cross-cultural clowning, it’s easy to see why the ticket stumps and accolades for Gamarjobat keep on piling up.