rantlust

Posted by papi on April 29th 2006 in Art, Humor, Music, Raves, Theater
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Just got back from watching Roy Zimmerman’s ‘Faulty Intelligence’ at the Berkeley venue of The Marsh. This is the first time I’ve seen Zimmerman perform, except for a short excerpt that he performed as a lead-in to another play a couple of weeks back, and I was very impressed with his show. He’s a satirist, comedian and musician all rolled into one, and his show is a laugh riot from start to finish. The satire is sharp and clever, the wordplay is exquisite and he can even sing. Listen to the following clip for a taste:

http://www.royzimmerman.com/mp3/chickenhawk.mp3

Along with the bushy-tailed chickenhawks, he also takes aim at the neocon cabal, creation ’science’, abstinence sex education, the war in Iraq, and the sexiest man alive… Dick Cheney, wouldn’t you guess! Most of these are admittedly sitting ducks, but Zimmerman brings a fresh point to even some jaded barbs, and he makes you laugh without ever resorting to vulgarity (well, except occasionally.) Here’s another clip which shows his penchant for wordplay, this time with Saddam Hussein.

At the show tonight, I was disappointed to see almost half the theater empty. Given that syrupy bloated turdballs like ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ run to full houses for years and years and then hang around like a bad smell for a few more, it’s sad to see a performance like this play to so many empty seats. As Zimmerman would say, “Saddam shame!” Tonight was supposed to be his last show, but it’s been extended for another month, and now it’s moved across the bay and will be playing Saturdays at The Marsh, SF. If you’re in the area, go check it out.