On Your Bike, Baffo
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (if you're under six)
Reviewed by Reuben Kenchington (aged 2¾) and Simon Darnley (Grandad, 63)
Want to keep your young children entertained for 45 minutes? Then take them to see Baffo.
This chaotic clown show is aimed squarely at very young children, roughly aged three to six.
The premise could not be simpler. Baffo has one goal: build a bicycle, ride it down a ramp and cross the finish line. There are no complicated storylines, no deeper life lessons and no surprise twists. Just one man, one bike and a seemingly endless succession of things going wrong.
Building the bike piece by piece from a big yellow box, nothing seems to work or fit. In any real workplace, Baffo would be instantly sacked for total incompetence, but in this setting, it allows the very young audience to constantly point how wrong Baffo really is.
Audience participation is the mainstay of the show; Baffo actively encourages them to get involved, shouting, clapping and stamping throughout. The highlight of the show was one young girl constantly squirting water directly at Baffos face with such ferocity and glee I thought he was going to drown!
Adults are not spared either as one poor dad was made to do funny dances much to the delight of the baying children.
The energy is just about maintained throughout with a steady stream of mishaps, silly surprises and physical comedy that had Reuben and the rest of the children snorting with laughter.
Live music is provided by the talented Tom Penn, who acts as both one-man band and long-suffering straight man, moving effortlessly between double bass, melodica and snare drums with his bottom!
Adults may not find themselves laughing quite as hard as their children, but that's beside the point.
Spoiler alert, there is a happy ending, and everyone goes home happy for Baffo to fight another day.
Last word goes to Reuben “That Baffo is a silly man!”
On your bike Baffo is on tour now
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