‘Please, here’s an uh…’ Brigitte Kaandorp, who gave a guest appearance as a former winner of the Cameretten festival, has just announced that the duo BRO’S has also won the audience prize in addition to the jury prize. In Kaandorp style, she hands Maurits Wijmenga and Ramses van Hall the accompanying memento, indeed a difficult to describe object, consisting of two blocks and a flag.
During the final of the 57th edition of Cameretten, the oldest cabaret festival in the Netherlands, BRO’S convinced on Saturday evening with an energetic and tight performance. In a rapid succession of often absurd scenes, the boys are almost constantly ‘bros’: brothers or best friends. They stand up, greeting each other coolly, followed by an impressive number of variations on the classic high five. It is a funny parody of the routine and playfully nonchalant way in which friends can give each other a muscular greeting.
The absurdist song in which one is a table, the other a chair is also comical. With strong vocals and a touch of physical theater, the two convincingly play their furniture, which, like brothers, are inextricably linked. The various scenes are tied together with a recurring sketch in which the duo parodies a slick improvisation company such as De Lama’s. A funny and well-acted act, in which the brotherhood between blood friends turns out not to be the completely uncomplicated friendship it seemed to be. After a short argument and a funny ‘dis track’, in which the duo raps to keep pace with each other, everything turns out fine.
It is not entirely clear whether there are deeper intentions behind their act, but that doesn’t matter much. The boys from BRO’S certainly have comic acting talent, and the playful and energetic sketches are tightly put together. The jury saw a lot of mutual chemistry in the two “energetic young dogs” and appreciated that the duo brought together “several disciplines”.
Holistic view of love
The final also had another duo with Molly & Esmee. With a performance about “being single in this society” and “our holistic view of love”, the duo had a more concrete theme than BRO’S. This duo also showed that they can act well and wittily and the jury praised their courage. The development in their performance, from the confusion between love and lust to a more healthy view of sexuality, was a bit too abrupt to be completely convincing.
The only soloist of the evening was 37-year-old Daveson Ignatia. The jury rightly complimented him on his natural stage presence. Ignatia proved herself to be an engaging and good storyteller, in a performance about his daughter, whom her mother does not allow him to see. The joke density was a bit on the low side, but Ignatia’s act was definitely promising.
The jury chose to award the optional Personality Award, intended for an act that has a lot of potential but does not yet contain strong enough material, just as it was not awarded last year. A joint prize for the three finalists is the finalist tour, an extensive tour of more than sixty theaters.