San Francisco Fringe 2019
I Favor My Daddy
Jamie Brickhouse redBrick Agency (New York, NY)
Genre: Solo Performance
Venue: Exit Theatre
Festival: San Francisco Fringe
Low Down
“Daddy Poo adored bikinis and martinis as much as his homosexual alcoholic son. Was he a sodomite lush too? Called “a wonderful entertainment” by Charles Bush, this award-winning, darkly comic show by a 4-time Moth champ reveals that uncovering “who’s your daddy?” reveals who you are. It’s a companion to Jamie’s 2018 SFF multi-award-winning Dangerous When Wet.”
Review
Jamie Brickhouse walks onstage wearing red pants and a white shirt with a colorful embroidered pattern, while moving to a Bossa Nova beat. His story is deeply personal and this show is next in a sequence following last year’s San Francisco Fringe multi-award-winning solo performance Dangerous When Wet: Booze, Sex, and My Mother. While Dangerous When Wet focused on Mama Jean, his mother, I Favor My Daddy is about his father, affectionately known to him as Daddy Poo.
The story begins – and suddenly we are transported to the 80s and his Southern Gothic upbringing! Brickhouse tells us stories with vivid details about this time in his life growing up through to adulthood and introduces us to his family – his parents and brother Jeffrey.
The story follows this family, their relationships and ups and downs, popular culture and news – such as alcoholism, sexuality, Playboy magazine, and a smidge of Neil Diamond. While looking into his father’s belongings Brickhouse discovers tantalizing hints into his father’s life and how people from his generation dealt with secrets, that often stifled their true selves. Things were different then, but probably still relatable to some today.
Brickhouse has a compelling presence and expressive face, and when he looks out at the audience you feel that he is speaking to you, personally. The relationship – between Brickhouse and Daddy Poo – is fascinating, funny, warm and moving, whether there are surprises in their different points of view or when they are on the same page. This intimate story emanates from the natural storyteller, masterfully, and the crafting and build of this one hour show is exceptionally well honed by writer/performer Brickhouse. The piece flows seamlessly from story to story with rich observational details that are never confusing, because of the clarity imbued in the script.
Brickhouse is a playwright, director and performer who writes and performs his own solo shows, based on his memories and experiences. In I Favor My Daddy, the first and only solo performance I have seen by this performer, Brickhouse has developed a very effective piece that draws you in, and is totally engrossing. He is in his element, pulling all his creative skills together into this art form and sharing his story and thoughts about how people become who they are – or how we think of them.
With only a chair onstage, Brickhouse becomes characters, populates his world in front of us – and moves around the space once more to the catchy latin american dance rhythm!
Photos shown on a screen at the beginning and end of the show are an interesting element to personalize the family.
Brickhouse performs with finessed delivery and timing, changes of pace that are just right, and all these elements make you want to sit back and listen for hours!
