The Freak and the Showgirl is a show that has been to Fringe World before and has built up a solid fan base.
Add to that Matt ‘The Freak’ Fraser’s sudden new legion of fans gained through his appearance in the TV series ‘American Horror Story’ and you end up with a large crowd to fill the West Australian Speigeltent.
Frazer’s partner is performance is Julie Atlas Muz, Miss Coney Island and New York art star.
This is a show that I loved at the beginning, but found I was less and less interested in as it progressed. From an energetic and compelling vaudevillian start we quickly progressed into a world of depravity and highly sexualised content – which is fine if you like that kind of thing, but it’s not my cup of tea.
As Matt Fraser takes to the stage waving his short arms in an energetic ‘jazz hands’ motion you are immediately perplexed. We’ve been taught not to look at people’s disabilities, and certainly not to laugh at them, instead see the person beyond the disability.
Fraser urges us to do both.
His opening monologue explaining that his ‘not regular issue’ arms are the result of his mother taking a morning sickness cure that inadvertently resulted in his limbs not developing correctly. He notes that ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ highlighting that the drug did successfully cure his mother’s pregnancy related nausea.
The funniest moment of this show was when the showgirl put her arms through the sleeves of Fraser’s jacket. Performing like the Muppet’s Swedish Chef they impressively pulled off some clever ukulele playing.
Fraser’s heartfelt rendition of ‘Somewhere’ from ‘West Side Story’ was an anthemic moment for equal rights and recognition, and it was touching even though he’s not a particularly great singer.
The later part of the show featured a video of a singing vagina performing the title song from the musical ‘Hair’ and an audience participation segment that featured butt shaking, beer spraying and an R rated bump and grind session.
The duo show reached a climax with a naked interpretive dance performance to Elvis Presley’s ‘American Trilogy’ that finished with a brief moment of fellatio.
At the end of it all I found myself asking, is this art? Is this entertainment? And to a large extent, what do I need to do to erase the last 20 minutes from my mind?
I treated myself to a tasty cocktail.
‘The Freak the Showgirl’ is on at The Pleasure Garden until Sunday February 22nd. Grab tickets at www.fringeworld.com.au
Graeme Watson
