‘Fly, You Fools!’ is the parody Lord of the Rings needs

Not since Warner Bros. stretched JRR Tolkien’s shortest novelinto three movies has so much been done with so little.

The manic comedy troupe Recent Cutbacks are back from touring with their Jurassic Parksend-up Hold On To Your Butts,and they’ve set themselves what sounds like an impossible challenge: a scene-for-scene recreation of the first Lord of the Rings film, in the purely metaphorically titled (no, seriously, sit DOWN Frodo, there’s an elf speaking) Fly, You Fools!

It doesn’t get lower-fi than a small circle of props and a paper towel roll, and you’ve never seen black hoodies work harder as costumes, but there’s definitely magic in this production. Nick Abeel and Kyle Schaefer have brought in Matt Zambrano (Orlando Bloom has nothing on his Legolas ) as the fourth of their fellowship, guided by foley artist Blair Busbee, who manages to steal several key momentsfrom behind hertable of props.

Togethertheyprance, whine and row their way toward Mordor in an hour-long adventurethatmanages to balance wink-wink parody with enough emotional gravitas to show that this — like any fan project — is a labor of love. Who needs CGI when you’ve got that?

Fly, You Fools!
Premieres April 1, 9:30 p.m.
Continues on Fridays through April 29, 8 p.m.
The Peoples Improv Theater, 123 E. 24th St.
$20