Ta Bamm! (Alba Theatre at Braw Venues @ Hill Street) is one of the most unusual, unexpected and wonderful shows I’ve come across in ages. Who knew that a marimba player and a tap dancer could spellbind an audience for an hour, without speaking a word? Wooden Impact – Daniel Borak (Tap Dance) and Manuel Leuenberger (Marimba) – do just this. They are virtuosos in their separate crafts and very evidently just love what they do and working together. They are a joy to watch. They are fun – incorporating clowning, mime and circus skills into their show – energetic and just a little bit crazy.
Daniel can make tap dancing look like figure skating. Manuel can play an empty biscuit tin or a packing case just as well as he can play the marimba he evidently adores. I spoke to them when they were promoting their show at the end of Princes Street last week and their enthusiasm and genuine delight that I already had a ticket for their show was infectious. I wasn’t really sure what the show would be like and words really can’t do it justice.
Ta Bamm! is pure joy on a stick! Or at least on a set of mallets (the technical term for the ‘sticks’ used to play a marimba!). The range of music that Manuel plays is incredible and the improvisations the pair do individually and together are stunning. One or two pieces are played without the marimba – a highlight was a number which was played entirely on their bodies – clapping, beating their chests and stamping their feet. Just incredible.
The audience really was spellbound and each number was cheered and clapped at the end as if each was the end of a very successful show. A standing ovation at the end proved that indeed it was just that. The audience ranged in age from children to older adults and the show very obviously appealed to all ages, given that so many of them wanted to talk to Daniel and Manuel after the show.
Sadly for those who weren’t lucky enough to get a ticket, today (14th) was their last show. But fear not, Manuel continues from the 15th with a one-man show – Marimba Mirage (same time, same place), which I urge you not to miss.
Ta Bamm! is fabulous and I hope Wooden Impact continue to grace the Fringe for years to come.
