Humor in SOMETHING ROTTEN?

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 11:57am

Me and my family are going through a very tough process right now. So to cheer my mom up, I want to buy SOMETHING ROTTEN for Baltimore next month. But, she's very very sensitive towards rude/crass humor. How rude is the show? (Don't be a penis, this man is a genius)

[elephantseye]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 12:07pm

If she would consider that line offensive, you probably wouldn't want to go. From what I recall it doesn't get much worse than that, but Shakespeare is pretty sexual as well.

[nealb1]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 12:09pm

I saw it when it first opened and HOWLED with laughter during the entire show.  I don't recall anything rude or crude.  It's a cross between "Book of Mormon, "The Producers" and "Forbidden Broadway."  

I'm still scratching my head as to how "Fun Home" won all the big Tony awards that year over "Something Rotten."

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 12:38pm

The humor in Something Rotten is far more stupid and juvenile than it is crass or offensive.

[sgreen3]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 12:43pm

Agree with the other responses so far. Personally don't think its that that bad at all, but there are moments that might be eyebrow-raising for someone who is sensitive to it. I'm thinking of an extended metaphor between Nigel/Portia -- can't remember if it's a song or just a scene.

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 3:14pm

nealb1 said: "I saw it when it first opened and HOWLED with laughter during the entire show.  I don't recall anything rude or crude.  It's a cross between "Book of Mormon, "The Producers" and "Forbidden Broadway."  

I'm still scratching my head as to how "Fun Home" won all the big Tony awards that year over "Something Rotten."

 

"

Different strokes, but I did not like the verrrrry broad "Something Rotten" at all (and I consider "Fun Home" a masterpiece). You do know that plenty of people would consider "Book of Mormon," "Producers" and "Forbidden Broadway" rude and/or crude, don't you? Seems like an odd comparison.

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 5:26pm

I saw "Something Rotten" while it was passing through Pittsburgh on National Tour and thought it was the absolute funniest thing I had ever seen in my entire life. Then "The Book of Mormon" came through three weeks later. Talk about rude, crude, vulgar, and hilarious on an adult scale. Wow. Loved it!

As for "Something Rotten", there's also a line in the song "Black Death" that might contain some quick offensive references (peepee and vagina). As others have said some of the humor in the show is overtly sexual as well (The Puritan Leader being not so pure, some pelvic thrusts here and there, oversized codpieces, etc.) and the relationship between Portia and Nigel (was there something when she got drunk at the Shakespeare by-invitation only party?). As for the show, there's a ton of references in the wonderfully delightful "Musical" skit, and the "Omelet" skit near the end is a hilarious mess, references in between to other shows ("What's a fiddler and what's he doing on the roof?), and just countless other moments that you really have to pay attention to enjoy the whole show. Overall I think the moments that may detract from the "offensive" may be few, and the ones that are over-the-top enjoyable far outweigh them. 

I've got several National Tour shows coming up including "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time", "Fun Home", "Dirty Dancing" and "The King and I", some that are traditional and then some no so traditional, and I'm quite eager to see all them without making comparisons to these outlandish comedies. They are different for a reason, and I'm sure they will all be outstanding in their own right. 



 

Updated On: 3/21/17 at 05:26 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 5:40pm

I'm one of the few people that found Something Rotten! to be not funny in the slightest.

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 6:12pm

^^ Agreed. This post's title caught my eye as its humor was what I had the issues with... (with which I had issues?) The show doesn't seem to have "humor" as much as "references." Got old very quickly. And I don't remember much that was too raunchy. But if you have to ask, maybe don't risk it. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 6:19pm

Oh, I thought Rotten! was one of the funniest shows in years! disneybroadwayfan, the line you mentioned is basically the "crudest" in the show—the other jokes are all pretty tame in nature (but hysterical, to me at least). I hope you'll go see it!

[stlrod]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 7:03pm

Just do it!  Took my father in law who does not like crude language to see the producers in Chicago right before it went to NYC. The Man laughed his tukas off.  He was recovering from prostate surgery at the time.  The producers was great but seeing him laugh was the better show.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 7:18pm

Not so much crude as childish, IMO.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 3/21/17 at 8:48pm

I agree with what others have said. The humor is about on the level of what an 11-year-old boy might find funny; not terribly crude or crass, just dumb.