A Bare bottom's final winning hand
The Age
Saturday November 14, 2009
DAVID STRASSMAN TED E BARE'S FAREWELL TOUR The Athenaeum, until December 6, $50-60. Daniel Ziffer Reviewer FOR a man who has spent his life with his hand up puppets' bums, David Strassman seems to want to make it mean something.Theatrical flourishes, sharp technology and a coherent narrative make Ted E Bare's Farewell Tour a rounded experience, even if it's one that doesn't take you anywhere new.I'm leaving the show. I've made up my mind, the shy Bare says early in the two-hour performance. Well, it's . . . written on the tickets, he's told. That kind of gives it away, huh?It's cute stuff, kicked up a gear by the appearance of the mean-spirited Chuck Wood. Banter about ventriloquism and Strassman's foibles are major strands of the humour in the show, which is funniest and most thrilling when the speed of the interactions threatens to overwhelm the ventriloquist's skill. You sounded like me for a second there, Bare told Strassman at one point, before the line was retried.The rapid-fire conversation continues with Kevin the Alien and a succession of sexually explicit characters. Strassman's DVD is rated M and the night is a stream of double entendres.Don't expect groundbreaking comedy: taxi drivers don't speak great English and the mayor of Frankston would be mortified if he or she was in the audience.However, Strassman is doing two shows most days for almost a month, and with his brilliant glitzy finish he will pack in as big an audience on his next tour.
Β© 2009 The Age
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