You don’t have to be a fan of Medieval literature or Arthurian legend to get what’s going on in “Spamalot.”
“It’s not really that kind of the show,” said Adam Grabau, who acts as Sir Lancelot and three other characters in the production that stops at the Koger Center Wednesday and Thursday. “The history of Lancelot is hardly the point. It’s the framework for the silliness of the production.”
The Broadway in Columbia musical, adapted for stage from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” features the same material and themes that were in the 1974 movie.
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“People just eat it up,” Grabau said.
Why is well-spoken and well-educated Englishmen behaving like idiots so funny?
“The Pythons are a very specific brand of humor,” Grabau said. “It’s just something they just came up with. In the States, it’s not for everybody. But there’s just so many pockets of cult following that just appreciate the brand of humor these guys developed.”
Grabau, who has performed in more than 300 shows in just over a year, also acts as The French Taunter, King Ni and Tim the Enchanter. His favorite is Lancelot, but audiences seem to prefer the Taunter.
“He’s the most iconic of the four,” he said. “Everybody remembers him from the film.”
The onstage silliness requires timing, an effect that can be lost when the material becomes second nature.
“Any product that runs this long, that is the challenge to keep the material fresh,” Grabau said. “Fortunately for myself and everyone else involved, this is one of the easiest shows to do that with.
“Heavier and dramatic shows are a lot harder to do that with. It’s a lot easier to keep a joke fresh than an emotional, dramatic scene.”
Audiences still crack up at the material in “Spamalot,” the best musical winner at the 2005 Tony Awards, even if the actors don’t.
“I could probably recite the whole thing top to bottom right now. I guess that’s the staying power of the Python material,” Grabau said. “It’s still funny the second and third and fourth time you hear it. There’s still a very deep appreciation for the material.
“(The audience) knows what to expect, but you want to exceed their expectations. The first couple laughs at the top of the show gives us a charge.”
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