The Sinus Show - Two Hours of Non-Stop Laughter

My husband and I finally caught the Sinus Show held at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. The Alamo Drafthouse is the coolest movie theater in town (there are four locations) since you get dinner, drinks, and a movie. Plus, rather than suffering through the commercials that now play before the previews at most other theaters (since when did playing commercials at a movie theater become okay); you are treated to vintage cartoons and movie clips. Dinner options include standard appetizer fare, burgers, salads, sandwiches, and pizza. Beer (bottle and on tap), wine, margaritas, and even a gigantic milk shake round out the drink offerings. Now that you know about the Alamo Drafthouse, let me tell you why the Sinus Show should be added to your "must do" list of things to do in Austin, Texas.

Three comedians, Jerm Pollet, Owen Egerton, and John Erler perform sketch comedy, interact with the crowd, and occasionally pick up a guitar and sing. During their before the movie sketch, they asked to hear from everyone from Austin and the crowd cheered. Then they asked to hear from the folks from Pflugerville and my husband and I whooped and hollered. "Two people, the entire population of Pflugerville is here tonight" came their retort. The real fun starts when the movie begins because they sit front and center with microphones and have a running commentary during the film complete with different voices. The target movie on the evening we went was the ridiculously badly acted Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze flick Point Break. To refresh your memory, the story is set in Los Angeles, where a gang of bank robbers calling themselves the ex-presidents commit their crimes while wearing masks of ex-presidents Reagan, Carter, Nixon, and Johnson. The F.B.I. believes that the members of the gang could be surfers and send young agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) undercover (under the tutelage of 20-year F.B.I. veteran Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) at the beach to mix with the surfers and gather information. Utah meets surfer Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) and gets drawn into the lifestyle of his new friend and even gets Bodhi's ex girlfriend (Lori Petty) as a bonus.

The movie is ripe for ridicule and the guys showed no mercy. Keanu got tagged repeatedly for failure to act. All of Gary Busey's dialog was voiced over by one of the comics so we couldn't hear what he was saying. They also reminded us that Busey is "that Guy who looks like Nick Nolte." With gems of dialog such as "When they run they dump the vehicle and they vanish... like a virgin on prom night. I mean they vanish, swishh..." the point was made that it didn't matter what his character was saying - we could follow the plot just fine without ever hearing a word of his dialog. Swayze got tagged with digs such as "Nobody puts Johnny Utah in a corner" (remember Dirty Dancing). With Lori Petty's short hair, she looks so much like Keanu that the comics were heard uttering "Oh, I'm making love to myself" in a dazed, Keanu-like voice at the beginning of their love scene.

These guys are sharp and have paid attention to the movie. They let us know that the blood splotch on Keanu's face looks like the number 7 while the blood splotch on Patrick's face looks like a backwards number 7. They wondered how that happened and if this was "Brokeback Surfers." When Keanu jumps out of the plane without a parachute a full seven seconds after Patrick jumps, we were told why he was in complete defiance of Newtonian physics. Keanu should never have been able to catch Patrick and the free fall lasted way too long, but hey, this is Hollywood, not reality. They also noted during a robbery getaway scene that the Democratic presidents were stuck in the back seat of the car, while the Republicans got the front seat.

Then there was the drinking game. Each time a surfer wiped out, we all yelled "Wipe Out" and took a drink. It's okay to play this game while drinking a Coke, by the way.

After the show, I met John and asked him if he realized that the scene on the beach in "Australia" where Patrick and Keanu head butt and roll around in the sand is actually the beginning of a Klingon mating ritual. Being a fellow Star Trek fan, he asked if he could put that in his show. Nice guy.

The Sinus Show is a lot of fun and well worth it. Expect to pay about $30 per person for tickets, drinks, and food. Some warnings - the show sells out so get to the theater when the box office opens 45 minutes prior to the start of the show. Better yet, buy your tickets online and still get to the theater early so you'll get a good seat. We arrived an hour early and there was already a line forming. If you don't like loud, then don't go. They play the movie at a high volume, plus the Sinus guys are constantly talking as well. If you don't like crowds, don't go. The show was sold out. If you want to actually watch the movie and catch the dialog, then don't go. The Sinus guys do talk all the way through it. Most of the humor is PG-13, but about 30% gets into the R and even X-rated range. If this offends you, don't go. If you've seen the movie already and want to laugh pretty much constantly for two hours then go see a Sinus Show.

For more information visit these sites:

http://www.alamodrafthouse.com
http://www.sinusshow.com