The premise of Jon & Jero: The Forgotten Tales is that brothers Jon and Jero have come to tell us some stories, but they’ve forgotten how the stories go. Instead, they ask the audience to help them remember.
This is good, old-fashioned improv for kids, from two performers who are clearly used to working with children and are extremely good at what they do.
Words are hurled at the duo from the audience, most involving either toilets or poop. It’s an audience primarily made up of kids five years old and up. Is anyone surprised?
After setting up the (slightly loose) premise for the show and a brief discussion about what makes a good story (examples include a problem that needs to be solved, characters and apparently – according to one of the younger audience members – paper), we’re off and running.
Kids shout out random words to give the stories their themes and arcs, and Jon Walpole and Jeromaia Detto duly act them out with musical accompaniment.
Walpole is a comedian, improviser and musician who has worked with Flying Bookworm Theatre Company, is currently Captain Starlight (entertaining kids at children’s hospitals across Australia), and is a former RAW Comedy state finalist.
Detto is a multi award-winning performer, specialising in improv and clown, and has worked as a museum educator and drama teacher.
Each performance is accompanied by a pianist. On the day we attended, it was keyboardist Isaac Haigh, who is also performing in The Booth Variety Spectacular and Formal Apology Hour. Haigh, who won the festival’s Best Newcomer Award in 2023, added a few jokes of his own, not just with words, but with the music, too.
The day we saw the show, we were treated to stories involving (but not limited to): dancing toilets, unflushable wipes, sewerage leakages, rat fairies who shout “carrot!” when surprised, tall hats that smell like poop and, well, you get the idea.
It was extremely funny from start to finish. Thanks to the high level of audience interaction, the kids stayed focused on the show the entire time, easily alleviating any concerns about whether a 60-minute show could hold the attention of small humans for the duration.
Jon and Jero also managed to impressively weave one or two sly jokes for the adults into the show with a nudge and a wink – refreshing for those of us over 15 who were perhaps tiring of the poop jokes (unlike the kids, who cackled the whole way through).
In future performances, it may be nice if just one of the stories were to be constructed by the parents in the room – perhaps even the first one – to show the kids what to do (and maybe give us at least one story not involving faecal matter).
One minor caution: while trying to break the ice at the start of the show, a couple of jokes were made about mispronunciation by a few young audience members. These were mostly harmless and the kids seemed to take them well. But if it had happened to a child undergoing speech therapy, in front of a room full of strangers, it could’ve been fodder for nightmares in the years to come.
Overall, it was a fun hour of laughter, and there are several other kids’ shows at the same venue, so if you’re heading into the city with the kids these school holidays, you could easily stretch the visit into two or even three different performances.
Read: Musical review: Annie, Capitol Theatre
Also, the fabulous, interactive, kid-friendly and free exhibit at ACMI downstairs is worth checking out in between, before or after your shows.
Jon & Jero: The Forgotten Tales will be performed at the Gandel Lab, ACMI until 20 April 2025 as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF 2025).
