Too many shows to go see to devise a clever intro today, so here’s a link back to first post which explains my dumb emoji rating thing! And on to today’s highlights:
Small-Minded
So, this is one unforgettable show— and it’s one that works on two, almost opposite levels. The first is as a demonstration of the technical skill of solo performer Tyler West, who proves he can clown around with the best of them. Expect West to showcase his mastery of his craft with juggling, cartwheels, cream-pies, and all sorts of other physical comedy gimmicks, which are impressive and amusing enough to be reason to see the show in and of themselves.
But these practical jokes and party tricks are interwoven into a much more nuanced and subversive second level— West’s exploration of his experiences as a person with dwarfism and how they have shaped his trajectory as a performer.
At times, West is willing to playfully make light of his size, as demonstrated in a hilarious opening sequence where he struggles to sing into a microphone set far too high for his stature. But the mood of the show shifts as he speaks about being pigeonholed into roles as comic relief characters during his time in drama school, and then the tension between his genuine enthusiasm for the craft of clowning and his awareness of the fact that, for audience members, his appearance is part of the joke.
Before our eyes, West wrestles with the fact that his differences are obvious and inescapable, and the question of whether he is playing into harmful stereotypes when he allows himself to play the fool. As he does, his continual comedic antics remain genuinely hard not to laugh at as even as they become increasingly uncomfortable—and that’s by design. With Small-Minded, audience members don’t have to choose between having fun at a show and seeing a piece with serious implications, as this piece offers both in one disarming package.
Playing tonight at 9:40 pm in the Peach venue
Tickets and future showtimes here
Emojis earned: 😄💞🧠💙
The Black Jack Show
This show is another good choice for audience members looking for something a bit out of the box and especially for those who have a taste for the totally bizarre. There’s little thematically uniting the pieces of this “puppet variety show,” which features everything from a singing coronavirus to a wise-cracking vampire comedian.
Even the best of these bits do tend to go on too long, and others are more fascinating than funny, such as the puppeteer’s stroll through the audience with small lifelike puppets that move in a surprisingly intricate way. I wouldn’t call this one a can’t miss, but it’s a great show to wander into on a whim if you’re in the mood for something unique and a little trippy!
Playing tonight at 10:55 pm at the Scarlet venue
Tickets and future showtimes here
Emojis earned: 🍃 🤩🎉
The Pink List
This chilling one-person musical created and performed by Michael Trauffer is one of the shows I would recommend going out of your way to catch this Fringe, though it’s one that’s in no way an easy watch. In the show, Trauffer plays an imagined named Karl whose story draws from several real-life accounts of gay men who were persecuted for their queerness during the Holocaust, a group whose experiences are often underrecognized and overshadowed by those of other victims of the tragedy.
A skilled performer and vocalist, Trauffer quickly hooks us into Karl’s story with moments of earnest innocence and adeptly navigates an increasingly emotional landscape as his story takes tragic twist after tragic twist. As the stakes rise and horrors escalate, several revelations elicit audible gasps from the audience, the tension often so palatable that I found myself physically on the edge of my seat.
The powerful script is technically well-crafted in addition to being profoundly moving, my only quibble with it being that the weight of the dialogue was at times so intense that the switch back into musical mode was a bit jarring.
The Pink List successfully creates a remarkable theatrical experience that sheds light on an unimaginable truth that simply demands attention. The real victims who inspired Karl deserve more than to have their stories lost to history, especially when to forget that history could well be to risk seeing it repeat.
Playing today at 12 pm at the Brown venue
Tickets and future performances here
Emojis earned: 💙🎭🧠🏆
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That’s all I have time for today, but you can also catch two shows that were some of my favorites of this winter’s mini-fest (Cracks: A One Trans Woman Dark Comedy Memoir and Hollywood Horror Story) or read my past reviews of those here. If you’ve liked any of my writing thus far, you can also try to catch my show Karma is a BITCH tonight at 11:05 pm in the Brown venue!