“Le Comedie du Bicyclette” was conceived and written by Mark Nutter, Dave Lewman, John Rubano and Joe Liss, collectively known as The Bicycle Men. The four met in Chicago, performing in various improv and sketch shows in the 1980s. Early in 2002, the four conceived the idea of a sketch show with original music. Rubano’s intense interest in bicycles served as a starting point, to which the group added the Tour de France, the fact that Liss took French in high school and the quartet’s unique brand of humor. “Le Comedie du Bicyclette” is the story of an American cyclist whose visit to a quaint French village turns into a surreal comedic nightmare. Arrogant bicycle repairmen, homicidal marionettes, the self-described “Most Disgusting Cabaret Artist in the World” and a host of other characters inhabit this tuneful and demented show.
Fans of the original production of The Bicycle Men will be excited to know that there will be a number of new songs and scenes this time around, including a harp solo played on the spokes of a bicycle wheel by a lecherous mute, a visit to a French restaurant where the waiter is so fastidious he makes the customers squirm with discomfort and a French cinema that's been playing the same damaged copy of a 1950's musical comedy featuring Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis clones for fifty years.
Most excitingly, this new production of The Bicycle Men features the hilarious Dan Castellaneta, beloved voice of Homer Simpson since 1988, who will be taking over Dave Lewman’s part, making this a rare opportunity to bask in the glow of a true American Comedy Icon. Okay, everybody together on three: “D’oh!”
