Hicks/Bogosian REVIEW - Quad City Times

"Double Bill a great piece of theatre"

By Ruby Nancy, Quad City Times

The latest late-night production from My Verona Productions is called “The Non-Conformists Double Bill,” a pairing of two one-person shows that touch on a number of controversial subjects.

Tied together by a common format and by references to drug use and sex — but little else — “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll,” by Eric Bogosian, and “It’s Just a Ride,” featuring material by Bill Hicks, are the shows presented on this bill.

The first stars Jason Conner in a series of short monologues, all of which center on the topics featured in its title, and the second showcases the talents of Adam Michael Lewis.

Conner’s delivery of each section of the “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll” script is more than adequate, covering a range of accents and types of characters well. Simply dressed and often seated, Conner delivers bits that vary in length and relative obscenity, and — though the material is not as good as his performance — he applies himself throughout. Given the nature of the material, his lovely blond looks and gleaming smile are actually a distraction from his performance, and the result comes across more like an extended audition than a play.

In the case of “It’s Just a Ride,” which is described as “a tribute to a man who … never sold out, never compromised, and never backed down,” the text comes from an interwoven collection of standup material from Hicks’ comedy routines. Put together in a seamless way, they blend into a single standup performance that is broad in scope and riveting in its passion — and, true to Hicksian form, also absolutely hilarious.

Lewis is a stellar performer, and his work here is wonderfully done.

He captures the essence of true standup, which blends prepared jokes with audience interaction, and he also manages to channel quite a bit of Hicks as well. (For the uninitiated, Hicks was a passionate and articulate comic whose thoughtful, side-splitting rants had political and cultural insight as well as outrageous humor. His death in 1994, following a bout with pancreatic cancer, ended a varied, controversial, influential, below-the-radar career far too soon.)

Lewis is natural and nuanced in this performance. His delivery is so unaffected throughout that afterward I heard someone ask the person next to them if “Ride” was an all-improv show. Whether pacing the small stage or delivering a stream of jokes stockstill, Lewis (as Hicks) is full of energy and emotion. His complete immersion in the work is an amazing feat of top-notch acting that pays off in a major way, earning huge, gut-busting laughs and even mid-rant applause that is completely deserved.

While many may find something to challenge them in Hicks’ rather salty monologues — and, undoubtedly, a certain ultra-conservative segment of the population would find most of this material highly offensive — he had plenty to say about the state of the world. Sadly, much of his material concerning war, hatred, ignorance and hypocrisy is just as relevant in 2006 as it was when he first delivered it.

It is a show for adults, no doubt, and probably is not to be recommended for the faint of heart (regardless of age). Full of observations on hot-topic issues, it has plenty for audiences to get worked up about, but these are not caveats. Its words deserve to be heard by a larger audience than this production will probably get — and some who do hear them might become angry or uncomfortable.

“It’s Just a Ride” is, regardless, a great piece of theater.

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