Easy Targets

Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Sacred Fools Theatre, Second Stage
Through June 30

RECOMMENDED

The redoubtable Burglars of Hamm have revived their parody of one-person shows, and it’s about the most fun one can have in the theatre. The concept is simple: four short solo shows are performed in the course of an hour, and the audience is encouraged to throw balled-up socks at the performers when it is offended by anything. This year there are two separate programs to attend — “The Women’s March,” performed by women or “America First,” performed by men. This is a review of the latter.

Hugo Armstrong is blissfully cornball in Jon Beauregard’s “Keep on Truckin’,” a shameless paean to the glories of driving trucks in America. The character goes on about how his truck horn is “the sound of freedom,” and rhapsodizes about how the Grand Tetons are really “the big titties” — then steals the show with a ridiculously long slow-motion crash sequence.

Albert Dayan is wonderfully loathsome in his own “Pride and Prejudice,” in which an investment banker rails against the difficulties white males have to face. It’s a piece exquisitely calibrated to incite a tsunami of socks from the crowd, particularly in a moment where he instructs all the women to leave the room and just go to the bathroom together or something.

Jon Beauregard is amusing if not quite despicable as Clark Gable in Carolyn Almos’ “Frankly My Dear” — which seems more of a gentle teasing of the Gable persona than a slam of celebrity bio shows. The program ends strong with Scott Golden in Matt Almos’s flamboyant “Town Hall,” in which a politician eschews answering his constituents’ questions and instead performs a conservative musical in bright red tights. Obamacare, the Wall and the giant disembodied head of Anderson Cooper make memorable appearances.

This show would be fun even if it were bad, but the writing is pointed and the performances are excellent. This is a genuinely hilarious production, and a Fringe must-see.

Sacred Fools Theatre, Second Stage; 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/4395. Running time: one hour.