Smear on your white make up, add black kohl pencil, throw in some piercings, and find the grungiest, hobo looking clothes, and welcome The Dirty Brothers. A trio made up of Shep Huntly, member of the groundbreaking Happy Sideshow and a regular guest on the ABC’s Sideshow, The Great Gordo Gamsby, who exploded onto the sideshow scene with a desire to push the boundaries of what is humanly possible and Pat Bath writer, director, performer and ex-member of Melbourne music legends The Dead Salesmen.
It was a beautiful warm balmy night in Adelaide, and a full house. Having been to a few shows in my time, it is not often you are handed anything as you enter, so upon entering this show, when we were all given a few small plastic balls, from a lost soul, white faced, wearing a blank facial expression, we didn’t ask questions. We accepted them and found our seats. Bizarre and intriguing, and that was the start of things to come…
Half Past Dead was before us. Jet black curtains as the backdrop, with large black and white tiles, the tent was in a shadow, however, the precise down lights on stage illuminated and nearly brought to life The Dirty Brothers. The music surrounds us, like fog coming in from the sea, loud, similar to an old fashioned, big band. We meet “The”, “Dirty” & “Brothers”. Dressed, in old vintage pin striped vest and suit pants, no shoes, dirty & scruffy, hair up on its end, and looking like death warmed up. Brilliant.
Have you ever seen 50 mouse & rat traps laid out in symmetrical rows? Looks great from a distance, but what if you were blindfolded and had to walk through this maze? This was just the start… I hadn’t seen a rabbit trap in a while either, nor those clowns that turn their necks from side to side slowly at the side shows. This is what the Brothers had become. They had big plastic funnels attached to their mouths – which is where the balls from the entrance came into being. The audience was to throw at the clown brothers. If they were good enough they would catch them in their mouths, and spit them back at us. This was called “Return to sender” and was great fun for the audience.
Their lack of facial expressions were impressive, and well maintained. One Brother, every now & then smiled, oh so sweetly, like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. The others were like the Buckingham Palace Guards their stone faces didn’t change, even though metal objects may pierce their skin from time to time, or “dinner time”, with choices of Razor Blades, Live Maggots or Perrier – who would want to dine anywhere else!!
I won’t give too much away, however, the male, “rise & shine, morning bathroom” scene, had everything. Very, very funny and witty. Their antics started off light, then by the end, more body parts and objects were introduced, and at times some of the feint hearted, had to look away. This act actually turned out to be a birthday party, one candle, one cake & one sword to eat it with! Leave it up to your imagination.
Overall, their antics coincided with a delightful choice of music, no time for the audience to lose interest, always on the look out for the next crazy party trick. Don’t leave anything that could inflict harm lying around, when “The Dirty Brothers” are in town. Very entertaining, go on, be brave and see it.
Adelaide Fringe Festival: The Dirty Brothers in The Dark Party showing at the Garden of Unearthly Delights in the heart of the city. This show runs until 21 March and tickets are priced range from $12.75 to $27.75.
