Mr. Chonkers
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Hollywood Fringe
RECOMMENDED
John Norris is a serious actor who doesn’t take anything too seriously and the outcome is very funny. Mr. Chonkers defies definition. It’s a late-night rendezvous with the absurd — a completely ridiculous and thoroughly enjoyable 50 minutes.
The evening is full of good old-fashioned silliness. Mr. Chonkers emerges from the shadows in a cheap monk costume, a nylon sock on his head and with a giant googly eyeball in the center of his nyloned face. He performs uncanny celebrity impressions, superior hand puppetry, an Italian pasta story in a variety of styles, a curtain speech remix, a tiny hat gag, and so much more.
He pokes fun at actors throughout (highly sensitive creatures), humble brags about the prestige of participating in the Hollywood Fringe Festival and scrutinizes every laugh as a perceived slight. He reverently presents his headshot taken “before the pandemic” — that is, 10 plus years ago. Even his costume — black with sweatpants, a turtleneck and colorful knee guards (a serious actor’s uniform) is highly entertaining.
Norris is a master of including the audience, always nudging and teasing, though never making a joke at anyone’s expense. He meets the audience where they’re at and allows everyone to enjoy themselves. His silly, absurd humor has a lot of heart.
According to Norris, Mr. Chonkers is still in development, ultimately headed for the legendary Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. He’s experimenting with new material to see what resonates with the audience. Not everything does, but it doesn’t matter. Ultimately the evening is a commitment to a living piece of theatre, and a communion with a live audience. Everyone shares a joyful experience. That’s what serious acting is: listening and receiving, responding and refining, readjusting and continuously committing to the truth — a responsibility to entertain that John Norris takes very seriously indeed.
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/7404. Running time: between 21 and 50 minutes.
