[eureka]

• Reviewed by Joel Markowitz

Patrick Bussink (last seen as Jesus in Forum’s The Last Days of Judas Iscariot) fit the battle of [eureka] and the walls came tumbling down, in only 44 minutes!

How do you describe the lunacy of [eureka]? Here’s the official Fringe description: “Albert is so damn frustrated he can’t even talk about it. But he can launch into hilarious feats of slapstick comedy in his bumbling search for peace of mind. Spirituality and old school clowning collide in this unique and explosive solo show…”

So when I walked into the H Street Playhouse theatre, and saw the simple set of a room surrounded by several walls, a table and watched Patrick struggling to get inside the front door, flashes of Buster Keaton’s dangerous pranks and his movies  such as The General and The Cameraman and Steamboat Willie, JR.) filled my mind.

 What a joy watching Patrick Bussink play the Keatonian nebbish, who speaks no words, but says it all with his facial expressions and pratfalls and his unflappable comic timing. I could only imagine what it was like to sit in a film parlor in the early 20’s watching a good ol’ silent movie.

Today, Patrick was Buster-like -.falling, twisting, slobbering all over his tie, doing things to and in a briefcase that, was, well, a real pisser. And when the walls, and tables and doors  and briefcase and Patrick came tumbling down, I was transported back to a 1977 college film class where I am watching The General, (a movie that is still on the all-time ten best films ever made lists). It’s on that very wintry day in 1977 in Utica, New York, that I discovered the work of a comic genius. Today, I found and reveled in the work of a new comic genius – Patrick Bussink.

Eureka!! Buster would have been very proud.