80s action movies are such a recognisable part of popular culture that it’s easy to forget how weird and ridiculous they actually are. Enter Manbo, a hilarious one-man send-up of the tropes, the toxic masculinity and slight homoeroticism of movies like First Blood and Commando.
Manbo is the ultimate action hero and the greatest combat agent who ever lived. He’s retired after a life of violence, but the Colonel has been taken hostage by the evil Russians, and Manbo is the only one that can save him, because of course he is.
He’s holed up in Afghanistan, which Manbo helpfully tells us is on the border between Korea, Vietnam and America, and thus begins a hilariously stereotypical one-man action movie complete with silly voices, ridiculous dialogue and over-the-top fight scenes.
Much of the show is devised, but by far the funniest parts of the show involved audience participation, which was like watching an improv show where one of the performers has never done improv before.
A few scenes required audience members to get onto the stage with him, including one very sweet lady playing Manbo’s contact in Afghanistan and love interest, who did her very best despite being a little clueless about what was happening! Nevertheless, no matter what happened, Sam Dugmore is such a seasoned improviser that he could make anything work no matter what the audience did.
There were some funny parts with just Dugmore on stage too, including some very creative bits where Manbo is represented by an Action Man on stage, but the parts where he improvised with the audience worked so well that the structure of the show could have leaned even harder into bits like these.
Manbo is a fast-paced, entertaining show that showcases the physical and comic talents of a remarkable performer. I’m sure anyone would enjoy Manbo, even if they had never seen an action movie before.
