Ron Campbell deploys dexterous slapstick worthy of silent movie maestro Buster Keaton, mime in Marcel Marceau’s speechless tradition, and puns wisecracking Groucho Marx would have envied.
HOW TO FAIL: Theater Review
Actors’ Gang co-founder Ron Campbell’s solo show How To Fail is a tour-de-force that succeeds in witty philosophizing, although it “fails,” as it bills itself, in being “One Man, 60 Minutes of Disaster” – because it actually clocked in at about 70 minutes of sheer hilarity. In this meditation on how one can learn more from failure than success, Campbell uses sight gags and wordplay to make his points. In doing so the writer/performer deploys dexterous slapstick worthy of silent movie maestro Buster Keaton, mime in Marcel Marceau’s speechless tradition, and puns wisecracking Groucho Marx would have envied.
Here’s a few examples of Campbell’s delightfully daffy definitions from this world premiere production:
Zipper = penis flytrap;
Approaching enlightenment = near-vana;
Cannibal philanthropist = stew-manitarian.
Ron CampbellFollowing in the faltering footsteps of Prof. Irwin Corey, in his mismatched socks Campbell, an older gent, projects the persona of a wacky professor as he dispenses his pearls of wisdom with a professorial panache worthy of Pangloss, in this the best of all possible solo shows. Among Campbell’s illuminations is the origin of the word serendipity, derived from Sinbad’s voyage to the magical island of Serendib. (Who knew?) What’s next – “Serengeti” is peaceful spaghetti from Africa?
In addition to co-founding The Actors’ Gang, Campbell entertained as a Cirque du Soleil clown in Kooza and starred in Teatro ZinZanni as Cecil B. De Grille. (For a list of his extensive other “failures,” go here.) Despite his feigned fumbling and bumbling onstage, Campbell is actually quite nimble, with an extraordinary agility and athleticism on exhibit throughout his one-man show. In one particularly stunning vignette, Campbell evinces a Chaplinesque mimetic prowess, tracing the evolution of a human from coitus to conception to birth. This is all the more gobsmacking as Campbell is a male. Bravo!
The one-person show is enhanced by some projections (designed by Cihan Sahin), sound (designed by David Robbins), lighting (designed by Bosco Flanagan) plus graphics (designed by Elif Sezgin). Some may consider the word-slinging to go over the top and cringeworthy - I didn’t, finding it all to be very “punny.” However, Campbell did do something throughout his one-act extravaganza that I did consider annoying: He insisted on audience participation. First of all, as a critic I’m there to review plays and need my hands free to take notes (or toss tomatoes, as the case may be). Secondly, I feel rock divas or actors shouldn’t demand audience members sing along or whatever – ticket buyers are paying the performers to entertain them and should be able to relax without being told what to do and how to behave.
But this is a mere quibble. Overall, How To Fail is enormously successful in making theatergoers laugh – and, perchance, to ponder.
How To Fail is being performed at 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through May 3 at The Actors’ Gang Theater, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232. For info and tickets: (310)838-4264; https://theactorsgang.com/.
Ed Rampell’s novel about the Native Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement for Indigenous rights, The Disinherited: Blood Blalahs, will be published this Spring.
