BRAINWARP II: ASS RAPE A-GO-GO
Metraform at Annoyance Theatre
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But it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Annoyance vein of bad-boy/bad-girl potty-mouthed humor is just about played out. All the best of the recent Annoyance shows have aimed for a far subtler, wittier, more intelligent kind of comedy than these folks usually get credit for: Modern Problems in Science was an improvised satire of pedants and academic pretension, That Jeff Garlin Thing a cutting-edge take on one-person shows, and Poo Poo Le Arse a foray into Dada performance. Even the incredibly gross late-night comedy Brainwarp the Babyeater was funny despite the surfeit of viscous fluids and bodily functions onstage, not because of them. It’s all the more annoying then to see the newest shows, Carpet Full of Pain and Brainwarp II, still trying to win laughs by grossing people out. Of the two, Brainwarp II: Ass Rape A-Go-Go is the funnier, mostly because its cast includes the more seasoned members of the Annoyance ensemble: people like Scot Robinson, Eric Hoffman, and Dan Wachtel have learned over the years how to squeeze laughs out of any situation.
The real topic of the show, however, is obvious from its subtitle: we’re subjected to every possible joke about anal rape and intercourse imaginable, none of them very funny. That’s too bad, because there are lots of terrific costumes, vivid characters, and strong comic acting here–Joe Bill’s sweet transvestite Chili Dawg in particular seems to be crying out for his own show. If Furman and company had found more for these fascinating, eccentric, misfit characters to do than indulge in an infantile display of anal obsession–like how about telling a coherent, funny story for a change?–this Brainwarp might have been a worthy successor to the original.
