Fringeist: Evelyn Reese's Focus is Fuzzy

Dad Who? is the latest in Susan Fischer's popular series of Evelyn Reese shows. If you've seen one of her other shows, you're familiar with the shtick: Evelyn is a clueless, aging harridan in sequin jumpsuits and crazy-person glasses whose one-woman shows consist of her often politically incorrect musings on her own life. Topics range from dating, to drinking to partying with her favourite "poofter" friend. Fischer's physicality is phenomenal. She entirely inhabits the bizarre posture and body of Evelyn Reese. She is obviously extremely comfortable in her character by this point, and could probably keep her personality up for hours if she wanted.

As the title implies, this particular show is ostensibly about family-issues. However, as a "focus on the family," it comes across as somewhat lacking in...a focus on the family. Evelyn's references to her family life and her father are fleeting and not fully developed, making the show lack cohesion and a bit hit-or-miss. Very strangely, it ends with Evelyn singing a song, but the music is turned up so loud that you can barely hear her voice over it and certainly cannot make out anything she says, which is pretty anticlimactic.

Dad Who? is a decent show with some very funny moments, but a stronger unifying theme would have definitely made it a more satisfying experience.