Trygve Wakenshaw: Silly Little Things Review by Mariah Girouard
Before coming to see Silly Little Things, I had no idea who Trygve Wakenshaw was. But it was clear from the hordes of people lining the street toward the entrance to his show that I was late to that party, lagging behind on comedy pop culture. Sitting in a packed room and staring at a stage, empty but for a small, wooden chair, I was unsure of what to expect.
Trygve enters the stage to the rumbles of wind and storm, both sound and movement working in quick succession to tell a story. Although he plays a myriad of characters throughout the performance, his main role is that of a “magician” whose card tricks and stage illusions fail at every turn—in the silliest of ways of course. Through the simplistic magic of mime and sound, Trygve takes the audience on a hilarious journey through multidimensional realms in time and space.
Trygve is a tall and slender man who uses the flexibilities of his rubber band-like body to transport us to various settings. From houses and airplanes to amusement parks and nightclubs, we are immediately sure of where we are at any given moment due to the accuracy and precision of Trygve’s creative mime. The show has its fair share of silly bits, hence its name Silly Little Things, but the reality is, it’s just plain fascinating to watch.
As someone well-versed in standup comedy, I’m not used to the idea of comedy without words, but Trygve manages to make me laugh with less than five words spoken throughout the entire show. He doesn’t have long scripts, hacky props, or clever punchlines. He proves that silliness is infectious and that comedy can be conveyed in the most minute of movements. Trygve hypnotizes the audience (literally) and he even invites a member of the audience on stage, breaking the fourth wall.
At times I was so mesmerized I forgot to keep track of the series of events unfolding onstage until I realized that at the end, everything comes full circle. Though the timeline is unclear, and at moments I didn’t know if the storyline was legitimate or the result of a bad trip on ecstasy, none of it matters. Silly Little Things explores the beauty in the tragedy of life and all of the silly blunders along the way, proving that the real magic is comedy.
