TJ Dawe Shines Humorous Light On Ordinary
TJ
Dawe can make you believe he is a truck driver, a drugstore clerk and a Canadian
postal worker during Christmas rush, all simultaneously in 90 minutes. His
one-man comedy, with some poignant observations, is staged at Theatre 99 as
part of the Piccolo Fringe.
The young Canadian comic, reminiscent of a burgeoning Spaulding Gray, has quicksilver timing and a knack for zooming in on the ostensibly mundane aspects of modern existence.
We are never sure exactly why one of the characters decides to move clear across the country, leaving his girlfriend behind, but the point of these three intertwined monologues is that the minutiae of everyday life can get to you.
The tall and lanky Dawe delineated the three personas by moving from one lighted mike to another on the bare stage. One character wants to find a room to rent in Toronto, another wants to reconnect with his girlfriend, while the third wants to placate a pesky customer, who lost $400 worth of meat in the mail and blames him.
Dawe speaks more rapidly as the evening progresses, spewing a litany of requirements to become a truck driver, coming down on the music that employees are forced to listen to ad infinitum, and explaining the cynicism of advertising.
In spite of containing loads of complaints, "The Slip-Knot" ends on a happy note. Each of the characters refuses to give up on his goal. Finally, we see that many times it just takes patience before you hit a lucky streak. The deal is to learn to enjoy the little victories.
Dottie Ashley
Charleston Post and Courier
May 29, 2002
