Shenoa Allen: Bloodthirsty Summer Review – Weapons and slaughter as the “Son of Satan” seeks to know himself | platform

SHenoah Allen swallows up the characters that surround him. They run in his face and out of his mouth. He’s a magnet for eccentricity, imitating the idiosyncrasies of the people he grew up with: his grandmother’s lipstick eyebrows; The arm candy of his big-hearted uncle.

In this winding collection of anecdotes from the comedian’s high-octane upbringing in New Mexico, Allen—best known as one half of the influential comedy duo The Pajama Men, kings of mime and improv—finds his own dressing box, trying them on for size. He’s done this since he was a child, he told us, to help him get through the “nervous parts” of life. Which was very full.

Flashes of mime remind us of the possibilities of its flexible features, which are only widely used. Instead, Bloodlust Summertime, made in collaboration with brutal comedian Kim Noble, is a haphazard quest for the “unnameable horror” placed upon him by Allen’s handler. Could it be an accidental killing in his family? Or the premeditated murders he witnessed in their immediate aftermath? Maybe this was the time he was told that his father was the devil and his whole life was torn apart. Allen navigates with ease the many strange darknesses he encounters, including weapons that no one man should ever see, but he is adept at discerning funny from wrong. Although the structure of the show seems loose, there is no shortage of wild exorcism experiments.

The Noble effect becomes more apparent, as meat is boiled, fingers are cut off, and the number of gunshots increases. The stories get darker, but remain secretive, lacking a coherent path for this collection of personal demons. A small technical issue is easily overcome, but it points to a show that still feels like a work in progress, as Allen continues to pinpoint the roots of this dastardly horror.