Although he declares himself one, there may be perhaps, to much earnestness about friendly ginger Shawn Hitchins to qualify him as a douche. The term is admittedly ambiguous, but we'd assume you would never take one home to mum. And Shawn can come home with us anytime.
Shawn Hitchins is a Single White Douche bills itself as a departure from Hitchin's cabaret/stand-up act, and announces instead to be a, "dangerous human experience." It isn't really that dangerous, when you remind the audience to be kind to one another at the end of the show. But hey this is Canada. Who wants to be dangerous anyway? We'd rather see a comedy. There are definitely enough laughs and schmaltz to classify
Single White Douche as a stand-up winner of a cabaret.
From the opening monologue, in which Shawn declares himself to be a "one man flash mob, seemingly spontaneous but ultimately rehearsed," to the encore, Alanis Morrisette
One Hand in my Pocket, there is some real heart to this douche. What makes SWD more than a cabaret is the writing. Lots of different threads ultimately lead to a cohesive and engaging hour and half of laughs and KYLIE. But some things work better than others.
Unexpected moments of musical brilliance and heart-wrenching topics abound. Perhaps the most raw of these is when Shawn talks about his own relationship failures or, "something," declaring himself single and maybe a bit sad about it. His rendition of Kylie Minogue's,
I'm the One, was a highlight. For anyone that knows EAP knows, we love Kylie, but to hear such meaning and force behind the words was a revelation for both of us. It was like hearing it for the first time. And that is a true credit to Shawn's interpretation. That number alone made leaving the house worth it. But it wasn't the only memorable moment of the show.
Also enjoyable was the monologue featuring "the oldest drag queen in the world." As closet drag queens ourselves we found it particularly poignant. Interspersed between
Old Man, the Neil Young classic, and Madonna's
Live to Tell was the story of the last drag queen at the bar. Lamenting those who have gone before and sighing for a society obsessed with all things tween, Shawn was refreshing, profound, well written and hilariously funny.
But, we're not buying the douche line. There isn't enough of a bite to our small town transplant to really classify him as a city-slicking douche bag just yet. And perhaps that is a good thing. Sure he jokes about trannies and back alley hand-jobs but who doesn't? And bless the small town heart of accompanist Anne Barnshaw who broke up the script with her personal reflections on taking the GO Train with the 905ers heading to the Kiss concert. You can't get more wholesome than that. When your worst fears are about public toe nail clipping you haven't quite left Kansas.
That being said, a night out at Buddies to see Shawn wax poetic about Susan Boyle, Miley Cyrus, and the rest of our mundane pop culture beats standing in line to catch a glimpse of Brad Pitt at the Four Seasons any day. Click the header to get more info on tickets to see
Shawn Hitchins is Single White Douche, at Buddies and Bad Times
. The show only runs till September 18th so run don't walk an support your local Single, White, Douche.
