Easy Targets: Artists and Heroes
Reviewed by Vanessa Cate
Burglars of Hamm (Hollywood Fringe Festival)
Through June 22
Out of 390 shows in this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival, more than half are one-person shows. Solo shows, although simpler in theory, have more possible ways to fail than ensemble pieces. Whether it be lack of writing talent, lack of acting talent, lack of direction, reliance on one-person tropes that have been done ten billion times, or an unnecessarily narcissistic concept — watching misguided egocentrics and amateurs can get really old really quick.
Burglars of Hamm does us all a service with their tried-and-true Easy Targets. The concept is simple but brilliant: four back-to-back one-person performances. But instead of being forced to endure the pain, audience members are provided with socks (4 for a dollar, or a laundry basket’s worth for $20) to pelt the players when you can’t stand their self-indulgence.
The actors are actually all really good and perform their respective monologues unflinchingly through the onslaught of socks. “All About Me,” written by Jon Beauregard and performed by Selina Merrill, is about an actress who was born for the stage. Matt Almos’ “An Evening with Abraham Lincoln,” performed by Eric Curtis Johnson, acquaints you with the 16th president of the United States. Tracey Leigh performs Selina Merrill’s spoken word “Word Magic.” And Jaime Robledo’s “Space Man (or How I Found Myself in Low Earth Orbit)” deals with lone astronaut Hugo Armstrong. And all of them are just as deliciously horrible as they sound.
The show is mercifully short and smartly crafted. As a form of theatrical therapy, this piece is an easy choice.
The Broadwater (Black Box), 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Friday 9:30 p.m.; through June 22nd; https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/5087; Running time: 1 hour with no intermission
