Playing mime-sweeper:
Magical Exploding Boy implements elements of mimery.
By Dustin Parmenter
Published: Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Remember the clown at your friend’s eighth birthday party? Or the mime that came to your elementary school assembly? Even if you don’t, you can probably fill in the memory gap with a vague guess. Something like: strange man in big shoes with funny make up has squirting flower (Cue audience laugh). Or: weird guy with white face paint acts like he’s trapped in a box (Hilarious!). Add a dash of slapstick, garnish with gaudy costuming and you have your average clown or mime.
Thankfully, Chicago-based performer Dean Evans is anything but average, and such tired stereotypes played no part in his new show, Magical Exploding Boy. Evans is a professional actor, mime and clown, as well as a faculty member at Chicago’s Second City Theater.
In addition to having studied at The School for Mime Theater at Ohio State University, Evans was trained under the legendary Marcel Marceau, who, in his time, was perhaps as famous as any mime can ever be. In this brisk, hour-long performance, Evans seamlessly integrates elements of clowning, mimery and physical comedy without missing a step, and even more interestingly, without speaking a single word. The show is the latest offering in the edgy Dark Night Series of Evanston’s very own Next Theatre Company.
Magical Exploding Boy can be cut up into three basic acts with brief but lively side shows placed in-between. Evans begins simply enough in the first act, with a mimetic imitation of a boy being beat up by a schoolyard bully. The boy quickly turns the tables, however, and Evans brilliantly acts out his use of mind-control powers to force the bully to beat himself up.
The second act, however, immediately proves to be even more interesting than the first. Shedding his previous shirt-and-trouser costume, Evans dons an almost sheer white jumpsuit in order to act out an amoeba struggling through some sort of ectoplasmic medium.
Allow me to repeat: During the show, a funny looking man in a white jumpsuit attempts to imitate a single celled organism. Yes, dear reader, I assure you that this not only happened, but that it was brilliantly executed with grace and poise to boot. It can be said without an ounce of irreverence that this segment of the performance was fascinating. The imitation was beautifully done and his movements bordered on dance. So much for stereotypes, eh?
The final act, though less interesting conceptually than its predecessors, is no less entertaining. Evans simulates a sort of science fiction scenario in which an outer space experiment goes horribly wrong, and he is forced to eject himself from the situation in some sort of escape pod.
Overall, Magical Exploding Boy succeeds wildly as both entertainment and performance art, completely flouting traditional conceptions of clowning and mimery while remaining accessible to all viewers. The second act is the highlight of the show, and puts Evans on display at the peak of his powers, both creatively and physically.
The brief vignettes or sideshows between the three central acts ranged from uproariously funny to somewhat repetitive, but the engaging moments far outnumber the dull ones.
The performance synopsis in this review is a paltry attempt to summarize what must be experienced directly: words cannot do this one-man clown show justice.
Be sure to catch one of the final performances this weekend at the Noyes Cultural Center, just steps from the Noyes CTA Purple Line station. Tickets are a tad steep at $25 each, but they’re worth every penny for the novelty and originality of the performance.