‘Karate Man’: A delightful, interactive comedy show

The year, 198X. You and (about 150 other people) are in control of Karate Man, a video game hero seeking to take down his archnemesis, Ross Roundkick. You vanquish the evildoer, but… beating the foe doesn’t mean you aren’t Karate Man anymore. In fact, much to the chagrin of your wife, a variety of punches, kicks and special moves are the only way you’re able to interact with the world.

This is the premise of Karate Man, a hilarious interactive show playing at the Sydney Fringe Festival that advertises itself as a ‘live-action video game.’ It’s an apt description for this comedic show from Bruno Dubosarsky and Daniel Scarratt of the Sydney comedy group BEAK, which ingeniously incorporates an actual video game controller for audience members to control Karate Man (Dubosarsky) in a loving homage to fighting games and RPGs. 

Considering the fact the controller is gradually passed around the audience and the performers on-stage have no idea what inputs will determine Karate Man’s story, the resulting show is extremely improv heavy. 

One interesting wrinkle to the show is that you will not ‘see’ all of Karate Man in the traditional sense; the choices of the audience dictate the story in an RPG-like manner. However, all the performers are absolute pros at adjusting to whatever the audience throws at them, and makes each show feel like a genuinely unique experience. 

Dubosarsky’s role in particular is hard one, constantly moving as if he were a Street Fighter character every moment he’s on stage and diligently following every punch, kick and jump to absolute perfection. You can quite literally see the sweat put into this role, and Dubosarsky’s utter commitment to being thrown around and following every input is deserving of every laugh it gets.

Scarratt is hilarious as the generically evil Ross Roundkick, while Steph Ryan plays a perfect ‘wife-to-the-hero’ role in Kara with excellent comedic chops and a surprising sense of emotion. The greater ensemble of Tim Dunk, Maddie Atkins and Juliet Rae Timmerman also deserve mention for their ability to adapt to any hiccups, and for the fact they all have to prepare different characters for scenarios the audience will never see.

But what really makes Karate Man quite a brilliant mix of comedy show and theatre is the sense of collective investment that it instils in the audience. As the controller gets passed around, people grow more and more attached to what happens to the character and you can’t help but yell out what you think is best for him by the end for whoever has the controller and is making the decisions. 

It’s a stellar concoction that’s able to flawlessly combine an incredible concept, physical comedy and an extremely talented troupe of improv performers into a night out full of heart and humour. Don’t miss your chance to take control in Karate Man this Sydney Fringe – you’ll be jump… right… block… kicking yourself for missing out!

Karate Man
Until September 28th
https://sydneyfringe.com/events/karate-man-a-live-action-video-game/