list.co.uk/festival Red Bastard | FESTIVAL FEATURES
BEING RED
BASTARD
Comedy act? Performance artist? Wicked clown? Gareth K Vile speaks to the uncategorisable performer set to charm, thrill and terrify this August
C aught in the corner of the stage, a stray audience member is pinned down by an impossible logic problem. Another audience member is invited to explore the performer’s costume, discovering hard cash in a soft place. When Red Bastard hit Glasgow as part of the Conl ux festival in 2010, even the hardened fans of live art were captivated by his ferocity, wit and charisma. His unique combination of humour, savage intelligence and absurdist physical theatre makes him a strong candidate for this year’s surprise Fringe success.
‘The audience is the action in my show,’ he says. ‘You will be intricately and intimately involved. But do not fear being destroyed.’ Mixing up smart one liners and a philosophy that advocates a bold approach to life’s problems, Red Bastard may look like a clown, but his intention is far more serious.
‘You may feel you were taken apart,’ he warns enigmatically. ‘But you will be brought back from the underworld with a new awareness, in one piece. Those who do not follow the chaotic rules of my realm will be
thrown out on their arse (with grace and charm of course).’
Although his show is positioned in the comedy section, Red Bastard is a counterblast to lazy observational humour, and to the dry intellectualism of much contemporary performance art. He is as likely to thrill enthusiasts of live art as he is comedy fans – although Red Bastard in full l ow against leery hecklers is likely to end in a curb- stomp victory for the Bastard. His upbringing has made him tough.
‘Much of my formative life as an artist was spent in New York City. It’s a tough town,’ he says. ‘You get angry. You get smart. Red Bastard is a product of compression. Press enough dirty coal together and eventually you’ll get a cool, hard diamond – razor-sharp.’ His precision strikes on vanity, weakness and pretension, revealing a ruthless, witty and feral intelligence, one that tackles big ideas with an earthy immediacy. ‘The philosophical concepts are universal. They are things I wondered about. Is it possible for me to be who I want? Why am I so scared? Where does authority come from?’ Yet his shows never decay into self- referential ponderings, or self-indulgence. And for Red Bastard, one
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1–8 Aug 2013 THE LIST FESTIVAL 21