FRINGE 2019: T.J. Dawe God of the Fringe
The Slipknot
Stage 16 (Holy Trinity Sanctuary Stage)
The title “Fringe God” was probably coined for T.J. Dawe.
In the early 2000’s the Vancouver playwright and performer edefined the solo stand up. A gangly young man with an earnest chipmunk manner and a lively sense of humour, he was everyman. All he needed was a couple of lights, a stage and an audience. His stories came from life – his life actually – but you could always see yourself in his tales of inexperience and embarrassment. They were often hilarious – and apparently nothing dull ever happened to him. The words pour from him (apparently someone counted 14,000 in this monologue alone) in a rapid-fire non-stop Niagara of comic comment.
His current show is The Slipknot, a reprise of one his earlier shows and apparently his most successful. Conversationally, Dawe spins a tale of three horrible jobs he had during that time when any kind of work situation was desperately needed by a kid. We’ve all been there. The three stories are split up in small vignettes that only slightly impinge on each other – as usual with Dawe’s illuminating comments and digressions. At the performance we went to, an ice cream truck went by and was immediately woven into the act.
We hear of his time as a stock boy at a drugstore.
“All the products were for women. I never realized how expensive it is to be a woman.”.
And his perilous time as a 20-year-old truck drive, and an often abused mail clerk n a complaint line for Canada Post. He’s a likeable one-man schnook’s gallery of young people trying to find their way in a complex world.
Dawe trots out his unique quirks: the ingratiating smile, the self-conscious banter, the sudden burst of sly humour. He can talk faster than anyone you’ve ever met. At one point, one of his characters launches into a high speed monologue. Dawe then steps aside to his second character’s spot, and he begins his equally accelerated slate. One more move and the third fires up his own tirade – all in character and making sense (I think). He kept it going, moving from character to character with a breathless rant for what seemed to be eons before the laughing audience stopped him with a rousing round of applause. My premise is that he has gills.
At times hysterical, heartbreaking and thoughtful. In The Slipknot we have met T.J. Dawe – and he is us.
5 out of 5
