This is one family you don’t want to mess with. Grandpa kicks butt like a demon, Mom splits wood with her karate chops, and Daughter will tear your eyes out if you cross her. But then that’s what they do, for this is a household full of martial artists and their idea of a fun night in is to let rip with a dizzying display of their high-kicking fighting skills.
Our idea of a fun night out is watching them in Jump, a Korean martial-arts comedy that was a hit at Edinburgh and has now taken up residence in London. Almost two hours of zany humour and choreographed slapstick are yoked to the slightest of plots, but who cares? Even if you aren’t a fan of Jackie Chan movies, you can’t help but be astounded by Jump’s virtuoso blend of tae kwon do and acrobatics.
Set (so we are told) in an “average” Korean home, the show plays off the charms of its extremely likeable family caricatures. The biggest laughs come courtesy of the drunken Uncle and the Daughter’s Superman suitor. Every time the latter takes off his glasses he turns from mild-mannered Clark Kent into an unstoppable fighting machine — and Casanova.
Everyone in the cast, including the put-upon Dad and the incredibly “frail” Elderly Man, who comperes the show, is a martial arts expert and consummate comedian. The first half is spent showcasing their amazing physical agility and expert comic timing. Their manic buffoonery reminded me of the Keystone Kops, but equally enjoyable are the small insights into Korean domesticity. The second half introduces two burglars (a sort of Laurel and Hardy duo) who break into the house in the middle of the night and, when they are caught, occasion a prolonged and hilarious punch-up involving the entire family.
The acrobatic and martial-arts prowess of the nine performers is jaw-dropping, as is Gye Hwan Park’s martial-arts choreography, which blends fierce aggression with musical energy and a dancer’s grace. There are back-flips that take your breath away; ferocious kicks that slice like lethal swords; sky-high jumps that zoom across the stage. The stamina is awesome; the demands on their bodies punishing. And they manage it all with incredible good grace and a truly contagious good humour. For sheer physical daring and feelgood farce, Jump is hard to beat.
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