Live Event: One Man Breaking Bad
I’ve just been running around my workplace like a mad person absolutely buzzing whilst doing terrible impressions of characters from Breaking Bad. Why am I doing this you may ask? The answer to your question is that I’ve recently come back from watching Miles Allen perform his incredible One Man Breaking Bad: The Unauthorised Parody.
Leading up to the show I asked myself, “how can one man act out 60 episodes of one of the most celebrated TV shows in recent years, voice multiple characters and keep everything entertaining?” I mean, how can one man remember the details of all 60 episodes? Let me tell you that my fear and apprehension was totally unwarranted and watching Miles was a genuine thrill.
The Stafford Gatehouse theatre was sold out which goes to tell you just how popular this show is and the sense of anticipation at the venue was palpable.
If I could use one word to describe Miles it is energetic! Miles act included dancing, acting, singing, fighting with himself and he didn’t stop the whole time he was on stage. He was absolutely relentless and I felt very tired just watching him perform.
The big question is did Miles do the characters from the show justice? Well I’m very pleased to say that the impersonations were absolutely spot on. Walter White, Jesse, Saul, Skyler, Hank, Walt Junior, Mike and Gus Fring all featured and it was uncanny how great they sounded. Don’t believe me, then go and check out YouTube and I’m sure you’ll be convinced otherwise. For me the highlights were Skyler and Walt Junior. Whenever Miles acted and voiced their characters I absolutely cracked up.
Although the focus was on Breaking Bad, Miles also brought other popular culture into the show. Let me tell you now that he does a mean Peter Griffin and Quagmire impression. There was also plenty of audience participation where we had to voice Walters inner monologue. Even the famous pizza on the roof scene was recreated using two “lucky” members of the audience.
Another highlight was after the interval where Miles bet the audience that he could do the first three seasons of Breaking Bad in two minutes. Somehow he managed it and it was brilliant!
Although I cant speak for all the people in the audience, everyone seemed to have a really great time. The biggest recommendation I can give is that I was with my wife and she has only seen the first series of Breaking Bad but she laughed all the way through and really enjoyed herself. Ok, she may not have got all of the jokes or character traits but it didn’t matter because the show was brilliantly funny.
I managed to grab a memento of the fabulous evening as Miles was throwing out free “samples” which I assume are sweets, I’ve been too chicken to try them. I would totally recommend you check out One Man Breaking Bad as it was hilarious throughout. I would also like to thank my wife for buying me the tickets and despite not knowing much about Breaking Bad coming along with me. If I could channel the character of Jessie for a minute I would imagine he would say “yo, watch this show bitches!”
Review by Chris (co-host of 60 Minutes With and The Same Coin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPdpdiWN_7g