Mil Grus

Mil Grus was Mil Magnus! Let me start by saying I am not a typical theatre or improve fan but I found this buffon piece to be thoroughly entertaining. The whole cast worked great together and I was engaged in a trance-esque curious state all the way through until I awoke out of the theatre asking myself "what happened to me?". If you have a chance to see them, go with an open mind ready to participate and you will surely come away better than when you arrived.

Stemming from a tradition of foolery that harks back to the Middle Ages, this grotesque ensemble keeps audiences amused and constantly off-guard. Their deadpan stares, their misshapen and gyrating bodies and their dumb-show drolleries are surreal rather than threatening. It helps, as various members climb through the audience, that they deposit tiny origami birds into outstretch palms. Since there is no through-line to engross us, a spirit of camaraderie descends upon the packed audience. When we are asked to help “tent” ourselves and we can no longer see the stage, we realize that we have been duped into ending the piece ourselves. I thought their joke on us ending their shenanigans was just right.

I was astounded, fascinated, horrified, and bedazzled for about an hour of music, dance, improvised comedy and physical theater.

...You will be delighted. I guarantee.

What I liked:
I don’t… but it… why did… what…?
What I didn’t like:
Uh.
My overall impression:
This show destroyed my ability to form coherent sentences for half an hour afterward.

If you know what bouffon is- You’ll want to see this. If you don’t know what bouffon is- You. Will. Want to See. This. “Mil Grus” is the art of mimicry, it’s basic human needs from inhuman creatures. They’re mocking us- Wait… no? They just need to know that we’re ok. It’s a dance. It’s desperately important nonsense. The entire ensembles' performance is a master class in listening onstage. I was completely enthralled.

What I liked
I liked the clumpy costumes, the dirty eye contact, the weirdo prop gifts, the flow of the show which was spaztic and creative and surprising and such a TEASE and a TRAP.

What I didn’t like
I want even MORE confidence and certainty. Once in a while I wondered, is this falling apart? And then I realized oh no it’s supposed to be this way.

My overall impression
I feel like the show was an intimate absurdist dirty flutter, saturated in groans and almost sentences. Where will it go? I imagine somewhere a little different each night? Toes pointed elegantly into the future, this group moving crazily as one weird clumpy pile, can’t be looked away from!

What I liked
Jeremy Sapp stood out in this cast – his comedic timing, stage presence, and improv skills are so strong. He was simultaneously graceful and ogre-like. His demon meets charm-school grin was an absolute delight.

The chord wrapped around one of the players neck attempting suicide destroyed me. Absolutely mental and hilarious.

What I didn’t like
Needs to be tightened up- some bits lagged (parking/word play/red head lamps/sorry). By shortening certain bits the cast doesn’t run out of improv steam, and by increasing the pace it will accentuate the beautiful madness.

Avoid throwing dangerous items into the crowd, a woman almost lost an eye from a flag.

My overall impression
Let me preface this by saying this is positive – Pure, unadulterated chaos and madness. At times absurd or bizarre, other times charming, but I would categorize this as anarchist theatre – a show that makes the rules, hates the rules it created, makes new ones, then makes fun of them and then the audience.

Loved it! Can’t wait to see where this group is going to go next. Limitless potential in how they could play. Go for their physical play, and for your idea of “entertainment” to be completely deconstructed.

All the performers were SO STRONG. Bouffon requires nerves and guts of steel to perform, as well as an unapologetic naughty streak, and these guys nailed it. Jenson and Jeremy in particular seem to live in this skin especially comfortably, even when they got in trouble— the night I went, Jenson accidentally hit someone with a small flag, but navigated the situation with aplomb.

ALL OF THE BITS WITH THE MUSIC! I could watch them ballet dance all night!

The show is dark and hilarious and grotesque in the best way, and the PHYSICAL PLAY is astounding. They were never panicked, never in a rush, and enjoyed even the moments that “didn’t work”, because that in itself accomplishes one of the goals of bouffon- they are not here to please us, they are here to make us gaze at ourselves.

Mil Grus is as ridiculous as it is delightful. The show is largely improvised so each performance is a new incarnation of nonsensical absurdity. Nothing is too sacred or too serious. How refreshing.

Absolutely nonsensical, every moment to moment of this evocative, immersive, hysterical physical comedy will nevertheless make absolute sense in the weirdest of ways. Telling you more would give away the magic. So suffice it to say, this is the one show that you absolutely should not miss at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe.

Very Highly Recommended

I loved the show. It was hilarious and ridiculous and yet such insightful commentary on humanity and our weirdnesseses. They involved the audience in such entertaining ways. I enjoyed every minute of it. I’m betting that each performance is different based on how the audience participates and on their own improv. I would love to see it again.

Strange, yet strangely lovable!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! This motley crew of mischievous miscreants magically merge and meld onstage and provoke, surprise, and connect with the audience for an uproariously entertaining immersive experience.
Uniquely developed and committed characters with grotesquely beautiful facial and physical expressivity… yet at times a seamlessly symbiotic synergy seemed to almost fuse individual performers together, forming a bizarrely fascinating amoebic entity before our eyes.
MUST SEE!!!

Having seen Mil Grus perform shorter sets around Los Angeles, it was wonderful to see what they did with a full stage and an hour to themselves. I was engaged the whole time and was delighted at how everything flowed and how one piece led into another. As a Troupe, they seemed very comfortable with each other and that comfort came through as confidence and sensitivity to the audience and the energy that was in the room. So glad they made it to Fringe!!

I absolutely LOVED IT. It was revolutionary, grotesque, beautiful, and mostly… hilarious. These french medieval Buffon clowns are NOTHING the fringe has ever seen before, this coming from an LA native who’s seen just about everything. I’m always looking for something completely fresh. I took my non-theatre going boyfriend, a regular Joe who works a 9-5 to Mil Grus ( I know, an ambitious beginning…) and he though it was simply fantastic. We laughed our asses off. It was gorgeous and also so deeply rooted in brutal, experimental, idiotic art. More please! The people worked So SO hard, and it really really payed off. I saw all the work they put into it and 100% translated. As i said, WE NEED MORE OF THIS PLEASE!

The only two things I walked out of the McCadden Theatre certain of was that Evans and his Ensemble will long be remembered by their thoroughly satisfied if totally perplexed audiences and that Mil Grus is not to be missed.