Jimmy Hogg : Mashed
If he hadn’t said it, I never would have known this show is brand-spanking new. It is. So get on it and brag that you’re among the first in the world to see it.
Mashed is about Jimmy Hogg’s journey from Plymouth to Rugby to see his middle class (British middle class, that is) university girlfriend while projecting cool. Since he comes from seedy Plymouth and is responsible for an outbreak of nits (lice in Canada), Jimmy has to double down on being cool. What is cool? Not caring. But also some posturing. He plays guitar, wears a thumb ring, grows his hair long, and half-sits on chairs. What isn’t cool? Caring. Revealing one’s interior life. Not being on. However, life has no problem throwing all sorts of spanners in the works, and this journey to meet the family proves no exception. Can Jimmy remain the sort of guy he aspires to be?
What makes Mashed and Jimmy Hogg’s entire repertoire of shows so engaging is him. He is a riveting storyteller who weaves tales in tales so expertly that even the last moment of the show is fully interconnected with all the others. His high energy (“I don’t drink coffee,” he says. “My brain would explode.”) and non-stop banter is electrifying. Jokes come fast and furious, relying on wry observations about life, people, and the situations in which he finds himself. As only people from the UK can do, he manages to tease while developing a warm relationship to his audience. Highly recommended show!
Intrusive Thoughts
What do therapists think about during sessions? Show creator Andrea Thring gives a glimpse into what one particular therapist, Annie, thinks about — revenge. From battered wives to abused children, she fantasizes about taking the perpetrators of violence and giving them what they deserve: violent deaths. But Annie’s “intrusive thoughts” are rooted in her own experiences growing up. Her compounded traumas and wine-swilling, dismissive mother are good training for this secondary career extracting vengeance, even if only in her mind.
Intrusive Thoughts is a beautifully executed performance. Thring brings Annie to life as a curious child whose world is rich with magical thinking. We then meet her at different stages of life all the way to her role as therapist. Periodically, Thring takes on the persona of Annie’s mother who waves her wineglass to make flamboyant dismissals. As flawed as the mother is, she also seems a product of her own demons.
The physicality of the show borders on dance. The natural world of logs and creatures around young Annie is communicated by her movements. Her tormented face and awkwardly held elbows scream the discomfort she feels at being hugged by her stepdad. She scales trees, runs through creek beds, and enacts dramatic death scenes.
The heavy subject matter may not be for everyone (major trigger warnings for those who need them). The show doesn’t disguise or abstract the cruelty and unfairness that victims suffer. It doesn’t try to offer answers or hopeful endings either, which for most victims of violence and abuse is a stark reality. Rather, the show is a witnessing, and in witnessing there is the possibility of catharsis.
This is a beautiful and intimate show that poetically goes for the jugular.
1-Man No-Show
At last, something registering high on the Alejandro Jodorowsky absurdity scale. Short bits make up an hour of balls-out insanity. OK, no balls were out. But Isaac Kessler definitely did some things with a Barbie doll and bananas that might qualify as high art at the right Bienniale (I’m thinking of Comedian from Art Basel Miami, but you’d likely have to see the show to understand my reference).
Kessler excels at interacting with the audience, whether it’s imitating their laughs or getting them to join him on stage for a coordinated dance without using any words. His trust that they will eventually do what he wants them to doubles the absurdist fun. There are ridiculous puns and slapstick, ridiculous costume changes, and ridiculous props, all used in the service of surreal comedy.
It’s Kessler’s shameless/fearless commitment to entertaining with a good dose of self-deprecation that easily brings an audience in on every joke. I couldn’t stop laughing and spent a good deal of time afterwards wondering where he sources his ideas. “Drugs and sugar,” was one shouted audience response to Kessler’s question about what causes pain. Perhaps those?
Jimmy Hogg: Mashed tickets HERE. Intrusive Thoughts tickets HERE. 1-Man No-Show tickets HERE. Reviews for The Middle Child and The Runaround can be found HERE. All Fringe shows can be found HERE. For more Fringe Reviews, check out Forget the Box HERE.
