Three Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff
This
past weekend found me, once again, attending at a show at the new Paper
Wing Fremont location where “Three Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff”
opened to raucous laughter. It’s hard to really capture an experience
with the written word and then share it with a nameless faceless reader
(that would be you), especially when so much of what you experienced can
be truly personal. Such was the case when Jay Devine, Phil Livernois,
and Jody Gilmore (pulling double duty as director) hit the stage in this
gender bending comedy that pushes the envelope and always aims for the
funny bone.
The title
of the show is either really on the nose or just a little misleading- there ARE three guys in drag, but I'm not sure they're playing 3 Guys in Drag. It's debatable, I suppose- to me I thought they were playing high
society women. I thought the casting of men just added to the comedy, but that the characters themselves were not in drag due to some "plumbing" comments. And the jokes come fast and hard when the lights come up
as Diva stands in front of her yard with a number of personal belongings
on display. She’s trying to raise money in order to purchase a Faberge
Egg with which to inter the ashes of her Dentist husband. Lillian
(Gilmore) is her best friend and likely the only person who will put up
with Diva’s overbearing personality. Lillians’ verbal non-sequiturs left
me in stitches throughout the show and it’s her advertised “free punch”
that drives much of the narrative as the product is consumed by all
three characters. Much of the play consists of verbal sparring, one
liners, and a good deal of interaction with (the fourth wall) unseen
attendees of the Yard Sale. Devine and Gilmore are quick, well oiled,
perfectly timed machine with their quick back and forth dialogue. Paper
Wings full immersion theatrical experience is on full display here as
members of the audience become targets to the wit and wisdom of both
Lillian and Diva.
Rounding
out their little social group is the wheelchair-bound Tink (Livernois),
the eldest, likely dying, almost comatose diabetic who is left in the
incapable hands of her two friends. Tink speaks in monosyllables,
struggles to be understood, and seems just a step away from hilarious
oblivion. It’s this character who not only addresses the fourth wall,
but breaks it absolutely when she pulls the audience into her head and
speaks with clear precision about the precarious nature of her
predicament and the eagerness in which she looks forward to an end of
her suffering with the two nitwits taking care of her. As an audience
member, Livernois’ performance reminded me of Harvey Korman in the Carol
Burnett show as the actor struggled to maintain composure and played it
up with comedic attempts to hide his face during some of the more
physical aspects of the shows performance. It cracked me up, man. I
loved it and it’s an experience you’re only really able to capture with a
life show when the actors on the stage are having as much fun as the
audience themselves.
One
could easily see this as a long routine between some of the most
impressive comedy teams throughout the ages. From the Three Stooges to
the Marx Brothers, and so on so forth. The verbal sparring, the physical
bits, and much of the pacing feels like those old zany comedies but the
subject matter pushes an envelope and brings a modern sensibility to
the material.
The
show continues throughout the month of May, with a start time of 8:00
pm. Doors open at 7:30 and I definitely encourage anyone in need of a
good laugh to attend, let loose, enjoy the atmosphere and other audience
members, talk with the performers after the show, and, as always,
support the local arts.
