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Horror ham to higher plane: Dandy Darkly evolves

Far out: Darkly’s latest takes you from the dawn of man to deepest outer space. Photo by Atticus Stevenson.
Far out: Darkly’s latest takes you from the dawn of man to deepest outer space. Photo by Atticus Stevenson.

BY SCOTT STIFFLER | He’s been doing it in the basement for a few good years now — attracting crowds that is, who eagerly flock to Horse Trade Theater Group’s intimate underground space on St. Marks Place every time southern-fried storyteller Dandy Darkly mounts a new collection of zinger-laced gothic tales. If you have yet to be seduced by the lilting voice and penetrating presence of this mincing, menacing, alliteration-loving oracle, it’s high time to give in, because “Myth Mouth” is the supernaturally gifted phenom’s strongest, strangest creation yet.

Brilliantly written, beautifully structured, and delivered in a damn near flawless manner that seems both effortless and unrehearsed (impossible, given the sheer volume of meticulous wordplay), “Myth” hits the viewer like something Joseph Campbell, Kenneth Anger, and Paul Lynde would concoct after passing around a gourd filled with shrooms and absinthe.

What’s more, this is virgin territory for Darkly — one long, beefy narrative, as opposed to his usual handful of blood-soaked, stand-alone morality tales that invoke the pulpy best of ancient fables, dimestore novels, and horror anthology comic books.

That these influences served as basic building blocks in previous efforts is not to say those shows were anything less than incredibly original or immensely entertaining. The stage persona of Georgia-born Brooklynite Neil Arthur James, Dandy Darkly is a vehicle for his queer creator to celebrate, critique, and often recoil at what attracts meek wannabes and bold adventurers alike to the lure of sex, drugs, violence, and revenge. Past monologues have seen zombies, witches, werewolves, shape-shifters, and slasher film final girls used to explore celebrity worship, PTSD, gun culture, misogyny, gentrification, self-loathing, and good old-fashioned bad intentions. 

As seen in a June NYC preview before it killed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, we can happily report that “Myth Mouth” is a giant step in Darkly’s ongoing evolution as a spinner of yarns, a social critic, and an all-around keen observer. Cha-Cha the Caveman — humanity’s first pop star, religious extremist, tyrannical leader, and recovering addict — is the tale’s throughline, which shifts back and forth through the millennia-long hero’s journey of this “Stone Age sissy…blissfully unburdened by the bluster that so defined his hunter brothers.” Notable stops along the way include scenes from a codependent virtual reality courtship, a glimpse of Soviet space pooch Laika’s secret Cold War mission, front seats to a modern day anthropology lecture, and a party of cosmic proportions that has Cha-Cha rubbing elbows and clicking heels with the likes of Walt Whitman, Joan Crawford, Alvin Ailey, Alan Turing, and Prince.

Don’t try to process that last part, just surrender yourself — because the epic feast of words and images flowing from this “Mouth” makes perfect sense when all is said and done, and will send you on your way tuned into a frequency that, like all good myths, has lasting power.

Written and performed by Dandy Darkly. Directed by Ian Bjorklund. Soundscape by Adam Tendler, Rachel Blumberg, and Bryce Edwards. Fri., Oct. 14, Thurs., Oct. 20 & Sat., Oct. 22 at 10:30pm; 7pm shows on Mon./Tues., Oct. 17/18, Sun./Mon./Tues., Oct. 23, 24, 25. At UNDER St. Marks Theater (no wheelchair access; 94 St. Marks Place, btw. First Ave. & Ave. A). For tickets ($20), horsetrade.info. Artist info: dandydarkly.com and Twitter @dandydarkly.

Cybersissy Dandy Darkly’s cavemen tale takes a detour into the world of virtual reality. Photo by Atticus Stevenson.
Cybersissy Dandy Darkly’s cavemen tale takes a detour into the world of virtual reality. Photo by Atticus Stevenson.