The Anita Goodman Experience

You cannot go long as a member of the Seattle burlesque community without meeting or at least hearing about local drag-personality Anita Goodman and her co-host/producer and BFF Cassie O'Hara.  These Ladies have been regular performers in Seattle cabarets for the past four years or so, and for several years have produced and hosted their own show: The Anita Goodman Experience.

Last Thursday night, I had the opportunity to attend the latest installment of this show, a tax-day hangover themed extravaganza of drag/burlesque/comedy/improvisational chaos.  At least that it was it appears to be at first glance.  Starting off with a formulaic structure consisting of original theme music, and dry, witty comedic monologuing by Cassie O'Hara, the show quickly becomes more complex.  Guest performers both on and off stage add layer upon layer of material until it is hard to tell where the show is going.  Improvised interruptions often throw the audience (and sometimes the performers) for a loop, and may appear to be out of control (example ... about two hundred used Starbucks cups being unexpectedly dumped on stage!).  Yet through all of this the audience has an anchor.  Removed from the chaos, standing like a pillar in the storm, Anita holds the show together.

The Tax-Day show included performances by:

• The ever-clever cabaret singer Gams Galore, performed one of her witty parodies, than spent the remainder of the show working her tush off as Anita's "fluffer" and impromptu pick up artist 
• Improv maestro Andrew McMasters brought "The Sheen" to the stage as only he can, and tangled with one of his biggest fans, Gary Gloryhole.
• Lydia McLane harassed Anita and the audience as an uptight agent of the IRS, with her mascot the 1040FU faithfully sic'ing tax dodgers.  
• Brendan Mack, a regular performer on The Jack & Wood Show, brought the over medicated, crazy, trany-wreck Helen Hitchcock to Anita's show, immersing himself so deeply in the character that a young woman attending the show actually thought he was an unstable homeless woman and gave him a monetary handout!
• The evenings burlesque guest, forgive me but I cannot remember her name, performed a piece as a business woman who while doing her taxes realized that she could make more money in stripper's heels than at her desk job.
• Cassie performed a lip-sync piece to "The Ladies Who Lunch".  I don't normally enjoy lip sync, but Cassie's facial expressions are masterfully timed and quite funny.  
• Anita closed the show by singing (Anita actual sings, and well, something few drag-artistes do) a song to Charlie Sheen, a strong finish and final anchor point to a delightful evening of sensory overload.

For those of you who have never been The Anita Goodman Experience, your first time may be a bit much for you to take in all at once but like a "Where's Waldo?" book it is a lot of fun to explore and see what sort of jokes are hidden within the chaos.  The next show will be on Thursday, June 9th at The Jewelbox Theater/Rendezvous in Belltown and I highly encourage you to check it out.

It's fun y'all!
Fosse Jack