Comments on: It's Not Vaudeville, It's Banana Shpeel!

By: John Brown

John Brown — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:24:22 +0000

WORST SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN. Unfunny jokes + terrible choreography make for an awful experience. People were walking out in droves at intermission. The acrobatic acts cannot redeem this joke of a show. Also, take any positive reviews with a grain of salt as other sites have noted that Cirque hired shill online commenters to de-fuse the flood of negative comments. Seriously, the only way to make this show worse is to raise ticket prices.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:00:12 +0000

This is the third Cirque show I’ve seen (Zumanity in Vegas and Kooza here in Chicago) and I was thoroughly disappointed. The 3 acrobatic sections were very good, the dancing was okay, and everything else was absolutely horrible. The sat there the entire time and did not laugh once. The jokes and slapstick would easily amuse a 4th grader, but as an adult, it wasn’t even remotely funny. I’m not sure what wowed the previous comment author (Barb), but I totally missed that. I was at the Dec 4th show and there were very small standing ovation sporatically throughout the theater; I guess the audience Frances was a part of was more impressed than we were. In closing, please don’t waste your money for this show and by all means do not let this be the first Cirque du Soleil show you see…it will paint a totally inaccurate picture of how truly entertaining Cirque shows typically are. Thanks!

By: Barb Frazee

Barb Frazee — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:07:02 +0000

I couldn’t stop laughing, “WOW!ing”, dancing in my seat, and generally having a great time! Very different from other Cirque shows, but I was expecting it to be different. I had a super fun experience!

By: Frances D

Frances D — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:49:52 +0000

I have to say I’m more than a little surprised at the other reviews on here. I took my wife on Friday night (the 27th) and we both thoroughly enjoyed the show. It appeared that we were not alone as there was a STANDING OVATION at the end! This was not just a few friends and family that stood up but about 90% of the people in the orchestra level and the show appeared to be sold out.

I personally found Banana Shpeel, while slow in some places, overall very entertaining. The music was fun, the dancers were great and the clowns were funny in a slapstick sort of way… think Three Stooges meets Warner Brothers. Maybe the jokes have changed since it opened but I didn’t find anything terribly vulgar about this show as was indicated in previous reviews. There are certainly a few off-color jokes but nothing your kids will understand.

On top of everything I’ve already mentioned, the more traditional circus acts were absolutely amazing and practically stole the show.

My wife and I are very happy we went!

By: Brandy

Brandy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:48:27 +0000

i too saw this show with greater expectations than were met, but i wouldnt be THAT brutal. Apparently it was the fault of the director who scrapped the 2 main characters and plot of the thing. for those of you who read the description and were curious why that was nothing like the show you saw..thats why…bad decision…and their run wont be long. everything is too reptitive and i would not suggest this for anyone who needs something with substance or who has an attention span of lopnger than a minute, but i blame the men behind the curtains, because the cast was as good as they could be.

By: Patricia Robles

Patricia Robles — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:55:27 +0000

Omg god! What were they thinking? I was so embarrassed, I brought my father and mother in law for their anniversary thinking it was going to blow their minds considering it’s a cirque du soleil show. It was awfully boring and just plain dumb! I did enjoy the dancers and 2 acts but the entire show was a complete mess. Shame on them for charging so much money to put together such a disaster. I will think twice about every paying to go see any new Cirque shows.

By: elliebelle

elliebelle — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:51:38 +0000

The 3 acrobats were extremely talented and we enjoyed the tap dancing, but the majority of the “humor” by the stage clowns was boring, and that’s the nicest word I can attach to it. Not sure why Cirque would stage a show around a woman pulled out of the audience at random. I cannot believe she a professional, but based on everything else I saw, I guess it’s possible.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:22:45 +0000

The ABSOLUTE WORST SHOW I have ever seen. Cirque should be embarassed to have put their name on this. What a waste of time and money. We walked out at intermission and so did others. Our usher said the second act got a little better. The majority of the first act was the “bit” acts that usually fill the void when there is changes in scenes, etc. The dialogue was extremely rude and inappropriate.

By: missbeckala

missbeckala — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:47:04 +0000

WOW!!!!! I’m so sorry no one liked the show. When I wrote the post all I had to go off of was the video I posted. Thanks for all the comments!

By: RebeccaW

RebeccaW — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:48:01 +0000

Absolutely ditto all of the above negative reviews. I saw it last night and I wish I hadn’t wasted my money. I do not want to see poop or sex jokes, or hitting and falling jokes. I want to see beautiful sets and gymnastic magic! This was gross. I would pay money NOT to see it. Ugh.