Something about diligently recording your thoughts in a notepad seems profoundly absurd when there’s a grossly overweight man-demon wandering around nearby, provoking people at random with his bulges and pointy parts. The odd man out in this scenario, as you may well guess, is the note-taker. I mean, what is this, a philosophy lecture? There’s a misshapen, wicked-minded wacko in the audience, crammed into a bright red jumpsuit and goading you into touching his butt. Tonight, theatre isn’t dead – it’s just been sucker-punched.
That man underneath the balloons and stretchy fabric is Eric Davis, who has been writing, acting, directing, and clowning in New York for some time now – he’s a founder and co-director of the NY Clown Theatre Festival – and who has recently been packing his big fat trunk around the world in search of audiences in far-off lands who, like many of us, crave some aggressive absurdity to break up the doldrums of everyday life. Coming up next, Davis will be moving to Los Angeles to perform in Cirque du Soleil’s new Hollywood show, Iris, but it’s not too late to catch him before he’s playing for the big stars. His eponymous show – worth far more than the cost of these tickets – plays through this weekend.
A minute into Red Bastard’s show I tucked my notepad away, barely making it out from under his roving gaze. “Bonjooour!” he calls at the start, and waits for a response. When half the audience murmurs “bonjour” back, he nods hungrily. “Oh, yeeees, this is that kind of show,” he says with a wolfish grin, and gives us a big stare with goofy, Jim Carrey-ish bug-eyes.
Two minutes in, I was glad I’d hidden the notepad. If Red Bastard had seen it, I half-feared he would plunge into the second row, swipe it away from me, and swallow it whole. Full-on digestion seems to be just about the only form of audience interaction in which Davis and his corpulent alter ego don’t indulge. Other than that, everything – and everyone, if the fun with Thursday night’s full house was any evidence – is up for grabs.
“It’s hard to categorize Red Bastard,” Tim Treanor wrote on this site a few days ago (his entertaining interview with Davis can be found here) “…he seems like a modern incarnation of the ancient Court Jester, who wise Kings engaged to deflate their egos, which would otherwise swell to room size under the force of relentless flattery.” True to his legacy, Davis brings high energy, sharp wit, and loads of gusto to his work in bouffon, a style of French physical comedy popularized by Jacques Lecoq in 1960s Paris.
Whereas a clown exists to be made fun of, a bouffon shows up to make fun of you. And though Red Bastard may resemble an obese flamingo, strutting heavily around, he is, as we come to suspect, the most agile one in the room – more disciplined, dexterous, and physically refined than his outer self lets on. He seems utterly convinced, too, that he is smarter and more entertaining than you are. How big of him, then, to prod us repeatedly to participate, throwing in our own thoughts, impulses, desires, and big reactions.
It wouldn’t be fair to report too thoroughly on what happened during the first show. But, as guided by Davis and his remarkably controlled touch, it was a performance that celebrated self-deprecation, spontaneity, and personal courage. I doubt anything Red Bastard concocts is ever totally repeatable, but on Thursday night we had a good talk, believe it or not, about buried fantasies, lost plans, abandoned goals, and the tyranny of self-censorship. It was a chat spurred by participatory panic, flecked with madness, totally over the top, and impossible to resist.
And by the end, Davis had reminded us of the ways in which it is mostly ourselves who invent and determine the kind of night we’re going to have when we wander out in search of live entertainment. Really, who needs to put a tragi-comic bouffon onstage at all when our own lives are already so ludicrously presumed and bizarrely conducted?
On second thought, maybe the bastard was hosting a philosophy lecture after all. Hmmm… should have taken notes.
Red Bastard
Performed by Eric Davis
Reviewed by Hunter Styles
Only 2 performances left for Red Bastard, Fri, Jan 14 and Sun, Jan 16, both at 8pm.
Highly Recommended
Details here.
Buy tickets.
Related:
DCTS feature: Red Bastard is coming to town
Buffonery…I have long and weird relationships with this kind of performance, it is unique, but some might feel rejection toward it…something like:me, God forbid, I can t do that, there is nothing like that in me that I can pull it out on the stage…
I remember my own feelings and reflections on that style, back in Cirque du Soleil…it was only 3 days wokshop, but maaan, was intense.
and the first thought was: I can t do that! It is toooo provocative, it is tooo vulgaire, it is, it is…its just against my nature. Well, the next thing you do is, you step on your own ego and tell yourself(or perhaps someone else tells you:)) that professionals don t give up that easy, and prior making strong judgments we should at least complete the workshop and then draw our conclusions, based on full experience. So I swallowed the rejection and went on…
trying to enjoy it as much as I could(it wasn t much at that time:)), the last thing I remember, after 3 days of “torture” was the feeling that I got reed of the big load of something unknown, feeling of being “lighter”. Then I realized that I unloaded something that I, at first rejected to see in myself. Well, it was quite interesting to discover that you also have something to get rid off, something that you aren t sincere with yourself about…and sometimes life/chance or something else gives you such opportunity to see that…and the interesting part is that under the cover called “PLAY” you allow yourself be sincere without even realizing it…It was strong experience. To dig into yourself…
anyhow…time went by, 6 years or so and chance brings me to see the performance last night, called “red bastard”. Solo buffoon performance, in very cozy Chicago theater Wit.
At first seemed like there are not going to be more then filthy self-indulgent interaction with the audience, but then in the light of the whole show you start seeing the whole picture. Sure, as any buffoon he did mock at the public BIG TIME, but also he was digging into the public, and digging quite dip. Deep into our fears, deep into our weaknesses, deep into our hidden selves…maan he really got it!
I think only the person who already “dissect” himself and got to the “marrow of the bones” of himself, CAN and has full right to do so with the public.
Well, it was funny and sad….
At the same time the ending was quite life-asserting…It narrowed us to the conclusion that we are the players of our own theater called LIFE and it is in our hands how well “the performance” goes (heh, like there something new, we didn t know…:))
and “our hands” can do a lot….even….even…????????? ?????? ??????????? ??????.
The ending was quite buffonesque and provocative:D
Big scale professionalism for Chicago, must say!!!
“red bastard” MUST SEE! MUST Experience! although, for each of us it will be different.