Mike Daisey mixes reality and fantasy in ambitious, epic twenty-nine-night tale at Joe’s Pub (photo by Joan Marcus)
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St.
Nightly through October 3, $26.50 ($20 with code DAISEY), no food or drink minimum, 7:00
212-967-7555
www.joespub.com
www.mikedaisey.blogspot.com
Monologist Mike Daisey is currently in the midst of an epic New York story at Joe’s Pub, a twenty-nine-consecutive-night “theatrical novel” that continues through October 3. Each evening, Daisey sits at a table for between sixty and seventy-five minutes, with a glass of water, a handkerchief to mop his perpetually sweaty face and brow, and a pad on which he has written an outline of what he is going to talk about. Behind him on an easel is a painting by Larissa Tokmakova (There There), who created a different canvas for each night. Daisey, whose last piece, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, stirred up quite a controversy when it was revealed that not every word in his story of Chinese workers who make Apple products at the massive Foxconn facility in Shenzhen was true, this time very deliberately mixes fact and fiction, reality and fantasy. The first part of each show generally deals with Daisey’s personal and professional life, as he discusses his childhood in Maine, self-deprecatingly talks about his girth, cynically examines life in the American theater, relates his bout with suicidal thoughts, makes fun of the price of food audience members are eating (unlike most shows at Joe’s Pub, there is no food or drink minimum), and brings up the potential of having sex in strange places with his wife, Jean-Michele Gregory, who is also the director.
Mike Daisey and painter Larissa Tokmakova in the studio, preparing for ALL THE FACES OF THE MOON (photo by Sabrina Fonseca)
Working from an outline, Daisey veers off into riotous tangents, his inflections suddenly going from soft and gentle to loud and sharp as he rants, raves, and rages about Dungeons and Dragons, Bob Dole, McDonald’s, Apple, McSweeney’s, vampires, the First Church of Christ IKEA Redeemer, Manhattan Theatre Club, and, at the center of it all, a changing New York City. But then, about halfway through, Daisey shifts gears, delving into a fantastical, surreal world where parties go on for years, Death follows him, and a mysterious character known as the Big Guy hires an even more mysterious figure named Jack to kill him (the Big Guy). At first this transition is confusing, seemingly arriving out of nowhere, but it eventually all comes together, especially if you see or listen to multiple shows. (A podcast of each performance is posted online by noon the next day.) Daisey is an engaging performer who is not afraid to take risks, a master storyteller who puts it all out there, adapting to the situation as necessary, whether sensing a lull in the proceedings or making a reference that very few people get. There’s an immediacy and intimacy about his presentation that instantly grabs the audience, which is willing to forgive Daisey his past problems and join him on this wildly ambitious ride, which features such intriguing chapter titles as “The Naked Emperor Is Still Laughing,” “Jupiter Is a King Who Never Came Back,” “Saturn Is a Father Devouring His Children,” and “The World Is More Than We Will Ever Know.” As a bonus, ticket holders receive a special tarot card for that specific show, featuring the name of the chapter and a color image of Tokmakova’s painting for that night; the tarot cards are also available to those who write legitimate reviews of individual podcasts.