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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2012 > February > 02
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Review: ‘Southern Fried Chickie’
Sometimes if you want a good laugh, all you have to do is head south.
Or, as is the case for Christy McBrayer, bring the South back east.
As part of the Frontera Fest Long Fringe, McBrayer has brought “Southern Fried Chickie,” her one woman, ten character comedy romp, all the way from Los Angeles to give Austin a glimpse of life in her home town: Saltillo, Mississippi, population a few thousand. Saltillo is (apparently) the trailer-park suburb of Tupelo, and the hometown of Elvis’ mother, Gladys Love Smith Presley.
“Southern Fried Chickie” (a purportedly autobiographical show) pulls us along on an adventure into deep-South small town life, replete with muumuus and mashed potatoes, hair curlers and chain smoking, methamphetamines, Jack Daniels, and high school boyfriends with nicknames like Hamburger and Frog. McBrayer takes us on a tour of her family angst, donning the trappings of each persona with enthusiasm and pluck. She does, however, make a short venture up north (sort of) when we meet her Minnesotan and maternal neighbor with a penchant for macramé.
And although McBrayer makes up the bulk of the show, it wouldn’t be half as much fun if it weren’t for her Red Neck Greek Chorus. Austin locals Johnny Molinari and Casey Epps show off their vocal and guitar picking talents, supplying a great pre-show warm up and a running soundtrack for McBrayer’s shenanigans. Ron Ramelli rounds out the ensemble with keyboards and harmonica. Of particular delight on Saturday was Casey Epps’ rendition of his original song, “The Ballad of Dick and Jane:” an entertaining (and not very subtle) adventure in double-entendre and divorce.
The show is undoubtedly entertaining for anyone who grew up in small-town South, caricaturing the characters one inevitably encounters. McBrayer reminds us that stereotypes are alive and well in the Southern states, and it’s a lot more fun to see her reenact them secondhand than encounter them in real life.
‘Southern Fried Chickie’ continues at 4:45 p.m. Performances at Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road. Tickets $15. www.hydeparktheatre.org
Cate Blouke is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
