Drew the Dramatic Fool: Having a Ball on a ball.
Drew the Dramatic Fool, whose projects have embellished this blog more than once, (Here, Here, and Here, at the least) is in NY for a run of shows at the Canal Park Playhouse, a tiny gem of a theatre in Tribeca. The theatre seats 50, and is mostly dedicated to family and vaudeville/variety shows. Drew is presenting his fabulous one man show “Help, Help, I Know the Title of This Show Is Long, But Somebody Is Trying To Kill Me!”
He’s doing that show in the evening, and doing a modified version of the show called Drew the Dramatic Fool (without the murdering sub-plot) on weekend afternoons for kids.
I’ve seen Drew’s show before (a number of times, actually) and it’s always delightful. His character is fresh, his tricks are original, and even some of the things you’ve seen before (digging a hole in the stage, for example) are done very well and with great skill. And balancing on top of a ball and juggling with a bucket on your foot, I don’t think anyone does it better than Drew (not sure that anyone else does it, either!)
I took my 3.5 year old son to see the Saturday show, and he loved it. (And he’s a pretty sophisticated audience– he’s seen a lot of clown shows in his 3 trips around the sun) The show begins with some of Drew’s silent short films that have been show in movie cinemas around the country (We saw How To Shut Off Your Cell phone, How Not to Shut Off Your Cell Phone, and How to Quiet a Screaming Baby) and they are also great. Then Drew begins his show, which is basically learning he has to perform all of the roles in a variety show. He does magic, juggling, and almost even plays music. Along the way there is audience participation, great character work, some unique props, and lots of laughs.
The only downside of our visit to see Drew was that the Tribeca Film Festival was that day, 2 blocks away, and it had usurped all of Drew’s customers, and there weren’t that many bodies in seats. It was a beautiful day, and it was free, but still, Drew’s show would have rocked some kids worlds, if only they had known it was there. His show is the kind that is very audience based (not so much participation, but interaction) and the more audience he has, the funnier the show becomes.
So hie yourself down to the Canal Park Playhouse, bring a crowd with you, and you’ll have a ball watching Drew juggle on a ball.
Remaining shows:
Help Help! Friday May 4 & 11 at 7 pm
Drew the Dramatic Fool: May 5 & 6, May 12 & 13 at 1 pm.
Here’s a video of the opening of Drew’s show:
And here’s one of his silent movies about Theatre Etiquette:
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