Welcome to the blog for Shear Madness, where the audience gets to solve the crime! A mixture of improvisation and up-to-the-minute spontaneous humor, it's a new play every night! Now in its 30th year at The Charles Playhouse in Boston. Or see the Madness at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. now in its 23rd year! Please visit our website for more information! Join our Facebook Fan Page! Follow us on Twitter! Comment on our stuff below!

Comments

[satisfied customer]

This show rocks!

[Jonathan]

jonathan

Saugus, MA
5 star rating
This show is stupid fun!

OK, at some point in every mans life he will have to suck it up and go to a play if some sort to appease the female desire to emasculate us by taking us to plays. If you really don't want to go, suggest this one its great.

Its a murder mystery show with complete crowd interaction. Think of a live action clue but instead of butler there's a big gay barber. Tickets a relatively inexpensive and it really is a good time. Check it out, cause it will make her happy and nobody has to wear tights.

[Amy]

I've seen Shear Madness multiple times in Boston, and I have a good laugh every time. The cast has excellent comedic timing and great, over-the-top acting that is a necessity for a semi-improv show like this. The small venue only adds to the fun, as you can get up-close and personal by talking to and influencing the cast (who stay in character) during the intermission, and you can see every hilarious facial expression and detail with no obstructions. This is a great show for a casual, laid-back night out in the theatre district with friends, family, or a date. Get ready to laugh!

[Nancypearl]

After much drama yesterday, Chris decided to accompany me to see Shear Madness at the Charles Playhouse. The drama was caused when a friend bailed on me at the last minute, for understandable yet still frustrating reasons. Luckily, Chris had read the great Yelp reviews of the show that afternoon, which helped him make the decision to skip his band practice and accompany me to the show. Sometimes having a boyfriend whose life decisions are based on the internet actually does work in my favor.

Before the show we decided to stop at the Chipotle right near the T station to split a veggie burrito. Three pounds of guacamole later we started walking to the T, only to hear my name called out on the street. I turned to see my ex-best friend, her fiance, and two other friends that were lost in the ex-best friend divorce proceedings. We had a surprisingly non-awkward chat for five minutes, I learned that she was fired from her teaching job for budget reasons after three years (go, Massachusetts!) and she was moving to Philly in a week. I have long felt it would be awkward to run into her even though we live about a ten minute walk from each other but when it eventually did happen I felt more weird about how not weird the meeting was. I guess that’s what happens when you were friends with someone for twelve years.

After the chat we were already running later than we planned so we barreled down the escalators to the train at Davis and just missed it. The next one came soon after and we made it a few stops before the train got stuck at Central. This is the third time our train has gotten stuck when we have somewhere to be and I have no idea what the problem is, but if the MBTA wants people to stop driving their cars they better start stepping up their game. They might also think about fixing the speakers since we sat for 25 minutes on a slowly-filling train, listening to the teacher’s voice from Charlie Brown. They could have been telling us to evacuate the train and we would have still been sitting there until the track blew up and the roaring flames engulfed us.

We finally made it to the Theater District where we went down into the basement of the Charles Playhouse, basically underneath the floorboards of the Blue Man Group show. I have to say, when Universal Hub gives away tickets they do it up right. We were in the very front row, almost directly in the middle of the stage. Of course, the theater is tiny and intimate anyway, so that meant I could have reached out and grabbed any of the actors as they walked by. I didn’t, FYI.

They also gave us free drink vouchers and we stocked up on beers beforehand because guess what? There’s a BAR. Right there, in the tiny little basement theater. My kind of play! We noticed a couple of people next to us also talking about their blogs; during the brief intermission we chatted and I discovered that one of the women had graduated from library school with me (I didn’t know her, she’s a corporate librarian), and the other wrote posts for the Bostonist.

The play itself was pretty hilarious in a totally cornball, Bostoncentric way. Boston is a great city for in-jokes and the entire show was filled with cracks about living in Brookline versus Brighton, Boston cops with their Dunkin’ Donuts, and the many awesome sports teams. Some of the jokes were definitely cause for eye rolling, but I think that was part of its charm. The kids in the audience were cracking up, even though I’m pretty sure they missed the thinly veiled jokes about the gay barber and his supply closet. Since half of the show is based on audience participation the actors had to be on their toes for the murder mystery questions and the ad-libbing was probably even better than the scripted part of the show. Being front and center we were easy targets for the actors, who asked if I had seen what the gentleman had put in his briefcase ten minutes earlier. And because I have a memory the size of a pea I couldn’t recall, which was the cause of some ribbing from the actors. Doh.

Overall I thought the show was pretty great, even though I was a little concerned that I was laughing when my blogging cohorts were not. What can I say? I am easily amused, and not always by erudite, highbrow humor. I did feel better that Chris was cracking up right next to me, though, ’cause man, that ish was funny. And as for whodunit, do you really think I would ruin it for you like that? You’ll just have to come to Boston yourself to find out.

[John]

Great fun and a terrific way to spend an evening. I dare you to try and not laugh out loud a couple of hundred times! JMD

[Matt Vajgrt]

omg it was so funny i was about to die of laughter i love the way the actors talk back at u and to find out who the killer was

[Vanessa]

I recently went to go watch the play in Boston and man did I love it!I don't think I've ever laughed that hard!Great play,great actors,and at the showing I went to,the guy playing Mike Thomas was hot!He had the most beautiful blue eyes and a strong face structure...

[Amanda]

Omg i went to go see this play with my class in dc. it was soooo funny. All of the teachers and kids were dying laughing. LAst year we went to go see mary poppins on broadway-almost everyone fell asleep. with this play.... You positivly couldn't!! 5 stars... excellent!!!

[Matt Shuler]

Can I tell you how Amazing this play was?! I'm definately not the type of person that goes to plays, neither is my 13yo son, but at the request of my wife the 2 of us and a family friend went along for the ride. To say it was well worth it would be an understatement!!! We laughed the entire time. The way the cast keeps it current and up to date with their jokes is awesome. The way they interact with the audience is great as well. Even if you aren't the "theater type", you will love this show. Those suffering from a lack of a funny bone, should not attend!

[Hilarious Video]

One of the best show ever, want to see it again!

[Linda T]

The day before my birthday I woke up to a throbbing tooth. That night my husband handed me two tickets for the show the next day. The morning of the show I woke with a full blown tooth abscess. I was in severe pain but still wanted to enjoy my birthday. I looked like a chipmunk. The show was hilarious! The interactions between the cast and the audience made the performance so interesting and fun. It absolutely helped to take my mind off the pain. Maybe next time I can see it when I can enjoy it more.

[Abigail Brady]

I HOPE THAT SHEAR MADNESS COMES TO SITKA, ALASKA.......I SAW IT IN WASHINGTON D.C. AND THOUGHT IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING EVER....HAHAHAHA...HOPE IT COMES TO SITKA SOME DAY...

:)

THANKS FOR BEING AWSOME

[thyroid t4]

sydka come to alaska? that would be absolutely crazy ...

[Connie]

Will this funny, funny, show ever be in tne n.j, n.y area... please I saw it in Florida & would like my friends to see it in n.j. Pappermill playhouse in milburn ???????

[sell gold bracelets]

The best thing to do is to collate a load of quotes and then make an informed decision.