PLANET HOSPICE

by Dan Kinch/BKCulturejammers

Review by Lucy Walker

The lights dim and Planet Hospice begins with Death greeting the audience. Or, actually not: turns out he's actually just the Grim Reaper's sub. Or is it Death's cousin? The relationship remains unclear, which is moot, because then he becomes a clown. And then, finally, a professor of evolutionary biology. And while this may sound like a quick fall from the theatrical to the mundane, Brooklyn Culture Jam's one-man show is actually the perfect in-between: playwright/performer Dan Kinch makes the ordinary and everyday terrifying, and, as a bonus, amusing.

Our narrator and guide, Dr. James Light, starts by explaining his background and intentions, utilizing a fantastic variety of props. There's also an adorable yet surprisingly macabre cameo by a wild animal (played by a puppet) and a meditation on yeast that's not to be missed. (Seriously: yeast. It is worth your ticket price alone.) It is evident right away that this is a Fringey sort of show: one actor onstage with only his wits, props, and a few sound cues. Doubly noted that it's an Ithaca Fringe Festival show, featuring enough weed, academia, and politics references to keep practically every Ithaca demographic engaged. The show contains such a range of odd humor that initially one questions if these even are jokes, or later on if perhaps the jokes were written for each individual person in the audience. The charm of his off-beat one-liners are that some roll right over the first row but land in the second row with guffaws -- and then, a minute later -- the following joke gets completely flipped reactions from the audience.

But that's all foreplay compared to where's he's going. He slowly builds to his argument about climate change and/or the end of the world. With scientific evidence, experts' theories, and an unshakeable sense of doom, he lays it out: the history of mankind, the abundance of methane, the absence of aliens, and more, as related to climate change. The professor makes a lot of sense, and a lot of noise. Though really, you need to see it to believe it.

Really. Go see this show, and discover where Planet Hospice is.