Clownshow’s “Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs ‘A Christmas Carol’ Again,” with Blake Montgomery/Photo: Joe Mazza
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The show doesn’t start at curtain call—no. For Blake Montgomery as Charles Dickens, the show begins the moment you step into the theater at Theater Wit. In a suit bedazzled in patches of shimmering thread, perhaps kintsugi-style repairs, you can tell Dickens has worn this suit before. Done this schtick before. As Montgomery flits around the room delivering tiny candy canes, getting to know his audience, he is immediately the most charming person you’ve ever met.
Which leads one to think—wasn’t this show entitled “Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs ‘A Christmas Carol’ Again”? Your mind puts particular emphasis on the word “begrudgingly.” Indeed, it is. Yet nothing is begrudging about Montgomery’s demeanor, not a wit. Perhaps that’s because, for him, the show hasn’t quite begun.
Unbeknownst to the audience, Montgomery, as Dickens, has a plan. Rather than go through with his 172nd annual reading of “A Christmas Carol,” he’s going to throw his first annual holiday party instead. Already won over by his pre-show crowd work, Montgomery knows that his audience is in the palm of his hand. But perhaps they aren’t the only ones in the theater that need convincing. Further still, he may even need to go through with this yuletide recitation after all.
Directed by Jonathan Berry and produced by Clownshow, the show performed and created by Montgomery is a side-splitting delight. While we know Dickens’ work to be quite serious at times, it can be hard to imagine the storied author as anything other than stoic. Yet, in life, he was apparently quite charismatic. So it comes as no surprise that he would perform his work for adoring audiences—particularly if he was anything like Montgomery portrays him.
Even the biggest holiday humbug will have a hard time resisting Montgomery’s charm. He roams around the audience and draws you in, often speaking directly at you if he’s nearby. It is impossible to take your eyes off him—unless he wanders too far out of your line of vision. Even if Dickens is only performing “A Christmas Carol” to placate his audience, I, for one, am glad of it. I could easily see this hilarious show becoming a new holiday tradition.
Clownshow’s “Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs ‘A Christmas Carol’ Again” runs through December 28 at Theater Wit, 1229 West Belmont. Tickets are $45, available at dickensagain.com.
