Tabloid
Frenzy is writer-director Paul Plunkett’s sardonic sketch-comedy swipe at the corporate
media’s penchant for the profane and perverse. And while even some of its best bits could use more development, the lurid evening still warrants a peek. A TV ad by smarmy attorney “Rhom Boyd” (Pat Towne channeling SNL’s Phil Hartman) lauds his successful litigation on behalf of theatergoers damaged by bad acting and writing (he’s even won cases against the company producing
Tabloid Frenzy!). “War on the Media” is an inspired take on the networks’ sycophantic Iraqi war coverage. Between intermittent video clips (directed by Ben Rock) of a disgruntled TV viewer’s (C.M. Gonzalez) incursion against TV reporters, an “embedded” VH1 correspondent (Mary Gregory) attempts an exclusive interview with the assailant while experts display computer-graphic images of journalistic “weapons” (designed by Bernard Chang) too hilarious to reveal here. But the toilet humor of “The World’s Longest Tapeworm,” the antics of “Jobless Dancers Change Sets for Food!” and the Tonya
Harding–Nancy Kerrigan setup of “Irish Tragedy” soon lose their initial punch. The entire ensemble shines, but Julie A. Lockhart, Frank Stasio, Eden Young, Linda Miller and Towne stand out.
