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December 8, 2005
Farahnakian & Flynn @ The PIT - 12.7.05
By: Keith Huang
The premise is simple, really: Two men in crumpled suits perform "skitches and skatches" in the lobby of a Comfort Inn. In exchange for the space, they've been given some light housekeeping duties. The audience is informed that "We do have to maintain the pool while we're here."
It's Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the People's Improv Theater (The PIT), and Ali Farahnakian and Dion Flynn perform "Farahnakian and Flynn present 2005 AD," a 45-minute show that kicks the ever-living shit out of all that is good, proper and sacred. The show is part social commentary, part self-help seminar, and the rest... well, we're still not quite sure, but dammit if it wasn't funny as balls.
The reedy Flynn proclaims proudly, "We've decided to spend our lives and dedicate ourselves to a simple proposition. That proposition is: I'm gonna go UP in life as high as I can go!" The brawny, wide-eyed Ali Farahnakian interjects so quickly that he gasps, "And I'm gonna freefall!"
From the outset, these two comedy veterans ratchet up the discomfort by stripping down to their skivvies. "I'm taking off my Shirt of Defensiveness!" says Flynn; "I'm taking off my Fear Pants!" yells Farahnakian. And suddenly it's a blustery night in New York -- by the way, every show at the PIT on Wednesday night is free -- and here you sit, watching two grown, free-balling men, and you're silently hoping against that their junk doesn't come crashing through their boxer-short gates.
Oblivious to such concerns, Farahnakian and Flynn warm up the house -- and themselves. Flynn does calisthenics, his arms braced against the wall, his left leg sticking out while his right knee pushes forward and his droopy, black business socks hang desperately to his calves.
This two-man wrecking crew craft scenes that hinge on exchanges such as this (that provoke mumblings of discomfort from the patron seated behind me):
DION: "Look at the calendar on the refrigerator! What does it say? September the 10th, Monday, 2001. Does it ring a bell?"
ALI: "Holy shitballs! Is this thing really happening tomorrow?"
DION: "Oh, God willing!"
ALI: "Jeeze, Louise, this thing really creeped up on me!"
Here are some more memorable lines from the show:
Ali Farahnakian as therapist: "I want you to take that pipe, put that crack in it, take that butane lighter. I want you to almost feel that shaft of white smoke coursing through your body like a thousand orgasms ... get it so close ... see the flame bouncing off that white golf ball ... and all of the sudden that white shaft is inside you and it's like a thousand angels singing on the tip of your penis!"
Flynn as reformed subway busker: "I was, by a he-she, gravely raped. And come to you with caper baring proof of diseases in my mind and genitals, twisting both my heads beyond repair!"
Keith is a fan of the comedy and a regular contributor to Gelf Magazine. He most recently chatted with musician/beatbox improviser, Reggie Watts.
Posted by The Apiary at December 8, 2005 3:04 PM
Comments
i am an old army buddy of dion flynns trying to get in touch with him
Posted by: jeff hornbuckle at August 5, 2006 2:36 AM