Let there be no mistaking it, Mark Vigeant is so funny that if he was performing on an amphitheater set up in front of Mount Rushmore, after the first five minutes milk would be shooting out of Lincoln’s nose, Washington would be laughing so hard his cumbersome dentures would go flying out of his mouth, and the other two guys would be peeing themselves.

His Fringe 2023 show, Mark Pleases You was selected as TVO’s Best Solo Show, and in 2024 The Best Man Show earned the Best Comedy Award from TheTVolution.

Both those productions were fundamentally different.  The first was a frantic, multiple character romp, a mixture of Christmas Carol and Dante’s Inferno only with more laughs.  The second show leaned heavily into audience participation, with Vigeant as the “best man” at his brother’s wedding dragging audience members up to serve as members of his “family” and the wedding party.

Out There, is yet another framing device to enfold Vigeant’s frenzied funniness within.

This concept is loosely based on such survivalist reality shows as Naked and Afraid, where an individual is deposited in the depth of some wilderness with just the bare basics to brave the elements with.

In Out There, Vigeant is abandoned in the barren badlands of the Broadwater Black Box, supplied only with a tent, and bow and arrow (of the Nerf variety.)  Also, like the actual shows, Vigeant is equipped with the means to record his ordeal; in this case, it is a portable video camera that he wears about his neck, with the footage being projected on a screen, giving the whole undertaking a distinct Blair Witch Project feel.

Vigeant is nothing if not an adventurous performer, the comedic Evel Knievel, not only willing to jump the shark tank blindfolded, but to French Kiss the Great White on the way over, all in service to the grand god Gelos.

Unfortunately, sometimes the Gods are whiny little bitches. And this is one of those times.

I’m not saying Out There is not a fun, dopey show, but it does falter in the trajectory Vigeant has established for himself, and the fault for that is not in Vigeant’s natural abilities, but rather in the concept and accouterments of the production.

What is dazzling about Vigeant is the same quality we find dazzling in Chris Bliss, Viktor Kee, and Anthony Gatto or any other master juggler; it is his ability to keep those gazillion plates spinning.  By the nature of the show’s concept, Vigeant has cut himself off from a key source of his strength – his audience.  Like the Titan Antaeus whose strength was renewed each time he touched the earth, Vigeant gains inspiration from his interactions with audience members. There is some audience participation in Out There, but it is derived from Vigeant nominating audience members as the animals he hunts with his Nerf arrows; and is therefore limited.

The introduction of the video camera while clever on the face, also serves to hinder Vigeant whose talent is far too explosive to be constrained by 24, 30 or 60 frames per second.

Vigeant is to be credited with boldness in his experimentation, and Out There is definitely a step in the progression towards his potential, but it’s only a step on a journey that’s just begun.

for more show info, visit Out There and Mark Vigeant