Recycled Percussion pushes into more visual comedy

Now they're talkin'!

Well, at least a little. But after five years in town, Recycled Percussion finally became a show that's not about drumming, but about the guys who wield the sticks.

When the two longest-tenured members, Justin Spencer and Ryan Vezina, divide the audience in half and compete for our affections, it soon shifts from who can lay down the fastest barrage to who can be the funniest. Vezina steals the crowd's love as he mimics Spencer with the body language of a silent movie comedian.

Near the end of their "Chaos & Confetti" show at the Saxe Theater, Spencer jokes to the audience, "I've watched you guys kind of grow throughout the evening." By then, I was thinking the same thing about seeing the lads evolve over the past five years. But maybe that's not the best metaphor for Spencer putting on a crash helmet and driving a scooter headfirst into a stack of trash cans. "Redneck bowling," they call it.

The point is, the troupe has finally shed its college-circuit, "Stomp"-on-a-budget origins. It's been a steady climb through three hotels on the Strip. But with new ideas and investment from producer David Saxe, Recycled Percussion is finally an original product for its own audience.

Granted, it's a loud, highly caffeinated product, and the audience skews to boys from ages 8 to ... well, as movies and video games prove, there really is no upper-end bracket range for boys, now is there?

But if the phrase "family show" usually makes us think of younger children, here's one for tweeners, teens and even parents who remember Rock'em Sock'em Robots and what a cassette tape looks like.

The troupe may have even done a better job than Blue Man Group at growing out from its original concept, which in this case was fashioning drum kits out of trash barrels and drumming its way up and down construction ladders.

Both are still represented, but the past two editions at the Tropicana and Quad (now the Linq Hotel) simply added flashier props and lighting to the old formula. The show hit a point of repetition, and there was only so much drumming you could take (especially in those late-afternoon time slots when visitors were still turning the corner from one late night on the town to the start of the next).

The new show hasn't sacrificed cool visuals. The opening even has two of the guys hanging upside down. But Saxe has pushed the four (Matt Bowman and Jason Davies are the newer members) into more visual comedy and away from drumming along to Styx songs.

Recycled now comes off like a Saturday morning cartoon band from the '60s — the Banana Splits maybe? — as it bolts through quick changes to bring song titles such as "Milkshake" and "Pinball Wizard" to life or turn your favorite childhood toys into an orchestra. Always knew the "Bop It" jingle was a hit single waiting to happen.

A couple of audience participation bits involve monkey masks and a game of "Name that Tune." But in a way, the whole show is audience participation. One thing that's never changed over the years is you getting handed a drumstick and banged-up pot or pan as you enter. These come in handy should the audience need to entertain itself during a technical breakdown, and when things veer off into downright silliness.

You think maybe the show went too far by reaching for a Spice Girls joke, a pop group as distant as the cassette tape? And doing it, yes, so the guys can dress up like Spice Girls? Too silly, eh? Well look down at that stick you're holding, and think how much you've been beating on that dented pie pan, and ask that question again.

— Read more from Mike Weatherford at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com and follow @Mikeweatherford on Twitter.