QPAC - Thu Oct 25

David Strassman is a puppeteer, but if you’re expecting some kind of Being John Malkovich artiness you’ll be disappointed. Strassman’s a ventriloquist with a collection of foul-mouthed dummies; it’s like watching an only child with an overactive imagination play with his toys, only on stage. There’s the vicious and argumentative Chuck Wood, who has a creepy Child’s Play vibe that isn’t helped by his comments to the audience (“Ugly guy! Get the fuck out of my show!”). Ted E. Bare, who is dumb as a brick but cute as a button, is a popular character and I spot dozens of Ted dolls being clutched by women in the crowd. A new addition is a female robot named ANGEL; hearing Strassman’s voice modulated into an eerie mechanical falsetto while she flirts with him is somehow even creepier than Chuck. The characters really seem like other people and it’s all too easy to start talking about them like independent personalities who Strassman somehow isn’t responsible for – when he brings out Grandpa Fred to make obnoxious jokes about the nationalities of various audience members I catch myself getting annoyed at the puppet instead of the puppeteer. He’s either gifted or schizo, but either way he’s entertaining.

JODY MACGREGOR

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