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Wrestling Team - The Complete Failure (DVD)
Andy Beckerman and Mark Bisi engage in an absurdist manner not too far removed from the style of a trio of their comedic predecessors, those Comedy Central (not quite) darlings, Stella. And, like Stella, Wresting Team seem to encourage rather polarized reactions. Their linguistic cartwheels, often akin to Escher in their subtle impossibility, make for both humor and confusion, and, it seems, this is a hallmark of the duo’s work. Laughing, of course, is encouraged, but there’s very little that Bisi and Beckerman do that makes for smooth swallowing, and that’s a good thing. Long-winded, slowly dissolving, oratories abut quick transitions and rapid-fire inanities, but, throughout it all, the form doesn’t usually get in the way of the funny.
The Complete Failure isn’t a big-money production, and Wrestling Team make no attempts to hide their rough edges. Bisi and Beckerman handle the vast majority of the roles, and while their portrayals aren’t always a study in acting versatility, the duo embrace their limitations as further facets of the comedy rather than hindrances. The lads have made the proverbial lemonade, and they aren’t concerned that it’s sometimes a touch sour. After all, with Wrestling Team, it’s the pitch that matters as much as the sale.
 -In the June 16th, 2004 issue of the Pittsburgh City Paper Wrestling Team once again find themselves the bad boys of the local press, and their local comedy night one step closer to becoming a phenomenon.  courtesy: Budai  -Wrestling Team take the Mini Cooper to the streets in the March 4th, 2004 issue of Pittsburgh Pulp newsweekly. Imagine the elaborate sketches we won't be able to produce without the check we didn't receive from BMW for our endorsement! What the crickets* are saying:
"Fresh...crisp...ah, the taste of morning apples in a poor man's London. And now onto my story, one of an orphan and the bull he loved..." - Grotto Bumblebrush, Grub Street circa 1788 "There are many comedy troupes on Planet Earth. Wrestling Team is one of them."-Lloyd Llewyllyn-Wynngriffith, Aberystwyth, 1999 "I found myself physically exhausted, my body trembling under the tremendous weight of Wrestling Team's bulging, phallic satire."- Riggs Raffelson, Giant Alien Robot FM "Feel my hand? Down there? That's laughter."- Principal Jack Willison, 1984 "Wrestling Team is not unlike a ruffed grouse, in that it is so funny that it makes you shit your pants."- Bruster Wilkes, Nine Times Out Of Seven, 1976 "Wrestling Team did not make me laugh, but they did cure my cancer. Remarkable, considering laughter is supposed to be the best medicine. Kudos to The Wrestling Team!"- Jimmy Maxwell, Terminally Ill Quarterly: A Guide for the Hip, 2001 "I'm a disabled veteran."- Charles "America" Staincloth, 2002 "If the pages of life could be turned, this book would be a chapter. Wrestling Team is your appendix."- Schteffanie Schwangerheit , The Neu Yorker "Life just keeps getting better!"- Phineas Phizzlebottom III "I just want to know if doing shitty comedy will garner me any sex."-Andy Beckerman, pits of despair, 2K3 "Did anyone order me a plain cheese?"-Mark Charles Bisi Jr., Cannysville, Hampshire, 2003 * I'm sorry, I really did mean "crickets!" |
Sketch comedy is an unforgiving mistress. Unlike with stand-up, a sketch must be able to withstand the scrutiny of repeated viewings, and it’s not as easy to float something mediocre past the viewer. Wrestling Team, who hail from opposite ends of the Keystone state, tackle both performance venues with a stilted gusto, and while their brand of funny may not completely jolt the senses of a more seasoned fan of contemporary comedy, to the average ear, these guys may seem just a wee bit off their proverbial rockers. The Complete Failure documents the unaired first episode of the Wrestling Team television show, as well as short films, live bits, and more commentary and extras than one might shake a stick-like implement at.