Garry Starr absurdist comedy at its best
Actor’s one-man show sets the bar high
M.. .. .. .. y theatrereviewing life is now clearly divided into two parts. BSGS and ASGS — Before seeing Garry Starr and After seeing Garry Starr.
From now on, any one-man comedy show I watch will be measured against the Garry Starr bar, and believe me that bar is now incredibly high.
The premise of Garry Starr Performs Everything is simple, but the execution is anything but. Over the course of one hour, Damien Warren-Smith’s alter ego, the vain, disgraced actor Garry Starr, takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride of absurdist comedy, jumping from “Shakespearean” monologues delivered at such speed that only the occasional word (codpiece for example) can actually be made out, to nearnaked ballet. From melodrama to burlesque, not to mention Butoh (Japanese Dance Theatre), mask, romantic comedy and musical theatre, often dressed in little more than a Tudor ruff, a g-string and some glittery pink nipple tassels, the egocentric Garry takes his audience on a wild ride through the genres in his mission to save theatre from extinction.
This is not a show for a shy, retiring type of audience, there is no escaping the audience participation, from throwing grapes into Garry’s mouth to sharing some cold spaghetti, reading scripts to standing on stage hitting a near-naked man with a pool noodle, the audience is dragged into the show throughout.
This isn’t audience participation in the name of cheap laughs however, everything about the performance is measured and thoughtful, and Damien’s time with world-famous clowning coach Philippe Gaulier in France shines through as he bares his soul and body), inviting the audience to laugh and enjoy his discomfiture throughout the show.
Damien’s strength, agility, incredible physical discipline, quick wit, and ability to react to whatever the audience throws at him make for a fantastic show that proves theatre is anything but extinct.
It might feel as though you are watching a man-sized toddler who has overdosed on e-numbers and is lacking parental supervision and is determined to take all his clothes off in public, but it also feels as though there’s nothing wrong with that, and with Damian Warren-Smith’s genius at work on stage, there truly isn’t.
Welcome, theatre lovers, to life in the time of ASGS — it’s truly the best of times.
Garry Starr Performs Everything was part of the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust Spiegel Fest.