Thousands of Pokémon parodies have sprung up over the last 30 years, but it’s not often you find one as funny, cutting, and lovingly crafted as BALLS: The Monster-Catchin’ Musical Comédy. The truest sign of a good spoof is that it demonstrates an incredible amount of knowledge about the source material. You can’t half-ass a parody with gags that only cut the surface; you need something that the sickos will understand and appreciate. The show features 151 legally distinct monsters, as well as parodies of some of the long-held truths of the Pokémon universe that, when you think about them long enough, start to boggle the mind.

I managed to catch BALLS here in New York City and had a blast, and also chatted with its creative leads last year, and as someone who grew up having to watch a lot of these off-Broadway parodies like the Starkid shows online because I was never going to be able to fly out to see them, my big question was whether or not BALLS was going to make its way online for people who couldn’t see the show in NYC. Thankfully, it’s finally here, and it’s delightful.

If you’re not sold on the idea of a Pokémon parody musical, one of the big draws of the show is that Stuart Zagnit, the original voice actor behind Professor Oak, plays a starring role in the show. He plays the Professor, an homage to the character that made him a mainstay in millennial children’s hearts.

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