Chimp Cop – the love child of Melbourne comedians Timothy Clark, Ben Vernel, Adam Knox and Rosie Vernel, is a hard-hitting and hilarious tale of corruption, friendship, and bananas.
A well-constructed hour of silliness that parodies just about every cop drama truism in the book, Chimp Cop moves through its influences, picking them apart and reconstructing original gags that had the audience laughing like a troop of monkeys.
The charismatic Timothy Clark plays the role of Chimp Cop in this parody inception; a primate police officer returning to the force just in time to get involved in a case that goes deeper than he could imagine. Back with his old partner and long time friend Tijuana Goldberg, portrayed by Ben Vernel, the pair play on the concept of the typical buddy cop movie, lacing it with a level of clever stupidity that’ll have you giggling at even the corniest of lines. Clark’s smooth, wide-grinned persona forming the yin to Vernels’s serious-come-silly yang.
The sketch is held together tightly by Adam Knox and Rosie Vernel, whose multi-part endeavors add dimensions throughout. Knox providing an array of the accents and personas with aplomb, whilst Vernel casts herself well as the atypical clichés of cop flick females including her convincing portrayal as the over-the-top, irreverent, but potentially suspect broad.
The chemistry of the cast is undeniable, a collective of four of the brightest and most active in Melbourne’s booming comedy scene year round, the quartet have managed to build something that’s been lauded by fellow comics and punters alike.
Through a series of nods, winks, and nudges to film and TV such as The Naked Gun, Breaking Bad, and CSI/Law & Order – Chimp Cop draws its laughs from physical humour, one liners, and cheap but highly effective props. Whether following the format or simply breaking it down to rebuild it into something a little sillier, this is one of the must see acts of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
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Chimp Cop performing at The Imperial Hotel as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival until April 18th. Tickets start from $12 and more details are available here: http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/chimp-cop
The reviewer attended the performance on April 9th.
