goestoshow

I never thought I would actually say something like this, but Vice Versa is an extremely touching clown show. It is, as you’d more likely expect, also hilarious. It’s the story of a clown, his clown son, and his dead clown wife. At the start of the play they plan to spread the mom’s ashes on the stage, but they’re not ready. What follows is a ridiculous and touching process of coming to terms with their loss through drinking and carousing and cooking hot dogs on a trombone slide with a fake lighter.

Tonk and Fozby, our protagonists, speak in a kind of jargony english mixed with kind of russian accents. Often it’s difficult to understand what words they’re speaking, but it’s always clear from context and action what’s going on. Adam Cope and Elliot James do a masterful job of conveying emotion and story through a blend of speech, action, and facial expressions, which is what you would expect out of a clown show.

Go see this. It’s entirely worth it.