I am lucky enough to have seen Avenue Q twice before -- both times the large-scale touring production fresh from Broadway. In each case the show was fast, funny and delightfully subversive. The Lower Ossington Theatre is presenting a significantly scaled down version of Avenue Q, but it is just as fast, funny and subversive, and what it lacks in expensive production values it more than makes up for in heart, energy and intimacy. Puppets, especially at a distance, can be comically removed from reality, making them perfect for satire. But when the puppets are only feet away, the humour is more cutting, and when the chorus of "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" kicks in, there is an indictment as well as an ironic joke at play.

The proximity of audience and felt adds an emotional weight to the puppets' dilemnas, which feels as odd as it sounds. The hilarity of "If You Were Gay" is given extra texture when poor closeted Rod becomes a figure of empathy as well as ridicule. And while it is great fun to watch puppets have sex, hurl obscenities and otherwise behave more realistically than the average Muppet, it is unexpectedly moving when they are revealed to have souls - tortured, disgusting, hilarious and, oddly, very human souls.

The puppets, as well as the music and lyrics, are licensed from the original Broadway production, so they are of a professional calibre. Fortunately, so is the cast, with uniformly strong voices and deft dexterity. The quick changes and intricate choreography required to move the plot along smoothly unfold seamlessly on the cleverly designed set. The only imbalance occurs when the performers' enthusiasm and expressiveness occasionally upstages the puppets, who, after all, are supposedly the stars. That is complicated by the simple fact that the male performers are strikingly handsome and distracting eye-candy.

Adam Proulx, who inhabits the two male leads, is a big-voiced charmer who manages to differentiate two very different characters. He should, however, wear a button-up shirt so the V-neck-framed chest hair doesn't pull focus from Ned's sexual confusion. There's a similar problem with Phil Skala when Bad Idea Bear and Nicky are eclipsed by flashes of abs as he leaps about. Of course, no one can draw attention from the fabulous Lucy the Slut, who, with the help of Kira Hall, churns up a storm of flung hair, not-so-subtle innuendo and vocal acrobatics; or Trekkie Monster, who has the advantage of sheer size when he sings "The Internet Is for Porn."

Anyone seeing this show for the first time will have the excitement of discovering a clever gem that bursts with ideas and entertainment. Anyone revisiting Avenue Q will be delighted to find it as fresh as ever but with an exciting new heartbeat that increases the pleasure.

Avenue Q runs till Thurs, Feb 9 at the Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington Ave. lowerossingtontheatre.com

Previous fab articles on Avenue Q: http://archive.fabmagazine.com/features/351/Jeff-Whitty.html and http://archive.fabmagazine.com/features/351/AvenueQ.html