Triple Espresso - Definition

Triple Espresso is a vaudeville style comedy which opened in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1996 and has enjoyed popular long-standing runs in Minneapolis and San Diego, California, as well as short engagements elsewhere in five countries (the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Denmark).

The thin plot revolves around three show-biz has-beens: lounge singer Hugh Butternut (who has spent the past two decades performing in a coffee bar; the titular "Triple Espresso") mime and singer Bill Bean and taciturn magician Buzz Maxwell; played in the original Minneapolis production by the show's writers, musician Michael Pearce Donley, comedian Bob Stromberg and magician Bill Arnold. The three gather in the coffeehouse on the 25th anniversary of their first - and last - group foray into the entertainment world (a disastrous outing on the Mike Douglas Show) to retell and memorialize their mediocre show-business careers.

What follows are a series of comedic sketches which showcase the talents of the show's three-man cast (which rotates based on location and availability of actors), which involve the audience heavily and only tangentially have anything to do with the (wafer-thin) plot. The show's "home base" is the small Music Box Theatre on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis.

External links

Triple Espresso (http://www.tripleespresso.com)