Review of The Neo-Futurists' Trust Us / Screw You

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Trust Us / Screw You. It was written and directed by Dan Kerr-Hobert and Phil Ridarelli. It was all about con men and basically they did con tricks on you as you watched the show. I think this was a great idea and it was super fun. It was very cool because you don't expect to have money taken from you in the course of the show. I don't like having money taken from me, but it was still very cool because it is a new thing from a show and I just love new things. It made you think about how easy to trick humans are and how con men get away with a lot of the stuff they try to do. People are easy to trick because they want to be nice or they think if they give something they will get something more. Once they've been tricked, they want things to work out in the end so they just try again and again. Eventually they realize something isn't right, but they still keep trying because they want things to work the way that they want them. I found this show very captivating and amazing. I loved it!

During the show there is one guy that they basically play a con on that was a longer one and took more time. It was kind of like a prank. He was just coming to see the show but they ask him to go on all these adventures. I thought that was very cool and it got you very interested in the story. You were like, "Is this guy actually doing all this stuff?" He had to be an amazing actor if this con actually wasn't happening to him for the first time. He seemed very confused about what was happening. The entire con was so perfectly planned that it was just crazy that it wasn't a plant. The plants that you find out are plants you don't even really recognize that they are plants until they show that they are. I kind of find it cool to be fooled because theatre is basically just fooling people that you are a different person, or at least trying to.

I got to be one of the tricked people in the show. And that was actually really fun. Kerr-Hobert and Riderelli asked "Does anyone have a dollar?" And I raised may hand and said, "Yes, I do" and they said, "We'll give you two dollars." But they didn't. It felt kind of scary and suspenseful, like "Am I going to get my money back?" It was like having a con trick pulled on you, even though you felt like you would at least get something because if you didn't someone might sue them or something. I think the difference between a real con and theater is that in a con you give them something and they don't give anything in return. But in theater you give them money to fool you but then you get entertainment for your money.

This show had a lot of very very funny moments. You laugh a lot of the time. One of my favorites is when Curtis Williams comes out and is an ATM. He had this big ATM costume that basically looked like a cardboard box that somebody had tried to turn into an ATM using paint and markers. Then he would make all the boop beep boop noises. Then he kind of acted like a guy who was just fed up with his job and it was so funny I couldn’t stop laughing. And another thing that happened is that after each part, basically act, of the show they would open the curtains and there would be a card castle being built. And it got more and more impressive over time. And by the end it was like this completely insane thing. No one could build that thing even if they were the best card stackers in the world. I think they did because it was random, weird and funny, but it also made you think about how con men are always building their plan like a house of cards on you.

People who would like this show are people who like card castles, con pranks, and exasperated ATMs. I think everyone should definitely go see this show. It was hilarious, clever, and I had a great time


Photos: Joe Mazza of Brave Lux