What happens when two occult twins throw the ultimate 13th birthday bash . . . and invite YOU to attend?
You get Creepy Boys, the horror-comedy sensation created by S.E. Grummett (they/them) and Sam Kruger (he/him).
“We play two spooky occult twins (who only refer to themselves as Creepy Boys),” explains Grummett. And the premise is as advertised . . . and disturbing: “We’ve invited you here to celebrate our 13th birthday (and maybe summon Satan). And it’s gonna be the best party EVER!”
Blending absurd comedy and clowning – with a distinct touch of horror – Creepy Boys explores themes of nostalgia and the unsettling pull of adulthood. In Kruger’s words, “Creepy Boys is a description—not just of the titular boys, but also what they represent within ourselves. How we as millennial 30-somethings feel both a deep nostalgia for our 2000s past, as well as a queasy sense it’s being indulged, in order to escape the present with its uncomfortable responsibilities, that come with growing up.”
From joke to international hit
The concept for Creepy Boys was one of those “happy accidents,” according to Kruger. “The name originally was a joke scrawled by Grumms [Grummett] on my festival program, while we were first dating out in Vancouver.” When they began exploring how to spin this scribble into a show, they found themselves drawn to it without understanding why, other than how it made them feel. “Excited, curious, like a pair of little stinkers!” laughs Grummett. “Everything you want when starting work on a new project.”
They developed the first version of the show during lockdown in Melbourne, Australia. “It was still early in our relationship. We’d panic-moved in together, and had time to kill,” recalls Kruger. “For a long time, the show was mostly a running couples joke about a show we might make.”
Then inspiration struck. Grummett recalls thinking, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we played twins?” With their similar heights (“I’m taller,” Grummett insists), they began leaning into the iconic creepy twin trope from The Shining. “Great!” – then another brainwave: “But what if it was their birthday? What if the audience are the party guests? What would they do on their special day?”
Answering those questions enabled them to mount a version of the show for the online COVID Melbourne Fringe – which they then remade with comedy director Deanna Fleysher (Butt Kapinski). The show has since further evolved, thanks in great part to Fleysher, with whom Grummett worked previously on their solo show Something in the Water. Fleysher “really pushed us on what the show was about, at its heart-of-hearts,” Grummett explains, “and helped it grow into something so much deeper than a silly comedy about some twins.” (Read Sesaya Arts’ interview with Grummett about that show here.)
A creative partnership with twists and turns
As a real-life couple portraying twin boys, Grummett and Kruger’s personal relationship deeply influences the show. “Working with your partner is an immense joy and a delicate Human Resources puzzle,” quips Kruger. “It allows for an intense level of intimacy and familiarity with each other’s timing, sense of humour, and body!”
It also, Grummett notes, makes it very obvious where the buck stops: “So many times when we were making the show, we’d say, ‘Wow, it’d be really nice if the actors could learn their lines.’ Or, ‘I can’t wait for the playwrights to finish the script, so we can learn our lines.’” They laugh, adding, “It’s really an immense joy to make it all yourselves, but really intense—like you’re eating, sleeping, and crapping out the show.”
But happily, they smile, “I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to spend that much time with.”
A queer love letter sent to weirdos world-wide
Importantly, the show reflects the duo’s mission to empower 2SLGBTQIA+ communities through theatre. Grummett explains, “I started So.Glad Arts fresh out of theatre school in the prairies because there was no work for me! Nobody was writing trans characters, let alone letting me anywhere near a stage. So I started making my own things and, through So.Glad Arts, sharing them with the world”.
Within this oeuvre, Creepy Boys is “our love letter to the weird, quiet queers who grew up on the Internet and discovered themselves on Tumblr and in chat rooms. With Creepy Boys, I get to put on a silly Little Richard moustache and let out that 13-year-old boy I never got to be!”
Touring this love letter internationally for eight weeks has led to many unforgettable moments. “The show has toured to seven countries, and they’ve all been so different,” says Kruger. “It feels clichéd to say, but every place is such a microcosm. Some places live up to your expectations—like the English really are quite reserved . . . though Scandinavians have a surprisingly deep knowledge of 2000s North American references!”
Participation is a core part of the show, and these audiences have embraced it in unique ways: “We’ve been asked to lick each other’s knees (Copenhagen), had the whole audience collectively drink a juice box – politely passing it down the rows so each person gets a sip (Edinburgh), and seen many, many bare butts (everywhere),” says Grummett.
“We can’t wait to see what Toronto brings!”
Connection, laughter, gross-outs – in other words, the party of the year!
At its core, Creepy Boys is about connection—between the performers and their audience, and among the audience members themselves – but delivered in a complex cocktail. Kruger advises that the typical spectator should expect “Laughter! Joy! Maybe a weird feeling in the stomach, one they have to talk to a friend about. A friend who asks them questions about what it all meant, and this General Audience Member answers their friend the best they can . . . but maybe needs more time to think!”
Grummett nods, adding “I want them to be grossed out, confused, and maybe a little turned on.”
Presented by Bad Dog Theatre as part of their Comedy on Queen Street series, Creepy Boys enjoys its Toronto debut at The Assembly Theatre from December 26–28, 2024. Equal parts The Shining twins and My Super Sweet 16, this whimsical horror-comedy is the winter escape you didn’t know you needed . . . and a party you’d be cursed to miss! For tickets, visit eventbrite.ca.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine, 2024
