In Classic Penguins, Garry Starr – the alter-ego of clown and actor Damien Warren-Smith – is trying to save the world of literature.
All without wearing pants.
Starr believes penguins wrote Classic Penguins, so naturally he dresses for the part, wearing just an Elizabethan ruffle, top hat, jacket and flippers.
In the show, which won top prize at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Starr acts out the titles of classics including Frankenstein, The Wind in The Willows and Gulliver’s Travels.
Part of the fun of the show is guessing which book the oblivious but enthusiastic Starr is recreating. There are silly puns, physical comedy, plenty of audience interaction – he selects someone to pelt him with grapes in homage to a certain John Steinbeck classic – and even crowd-surfing.
Garry Starr: Expect silly puns, physical comedy and even crowd surfing.Credit:
Warren-Smith, 43, only includes willing audience members in his show but says the best participants are those “who are a little bit hesitant”.
“If they’re too confident, the audience questions if they’re a plant. But when someone is a little bit uncomfortable to get up there, I honestly believe that everyone comes out succeeding. A lot of people have said to me, ‘I was terrified of audience participation. But I’m not after seeing that; it felt so safe’.
“The volunteers are not the butt of the joke; it’s always me who ends up looking ridiculous.
“In a world outside [of a clown show], no absolutely means no. In a theatre, no doesn’t always mean no because the person who first goes ‘no’ is probably going to get the most out of it, and the audience is going to love them more than anyone else.”
