Last Thursday the good folks at Wham City kicked off their comedy tour in the fabulous basement of the Bell Foundry in Station North. The venue – unfinished and adorned with all manner of graffiti – was transformed from dingy subdomain of a partially refurbished and repurposed industrial relic to an unexpectedly cozy performance space. The ability to use spaces like this in such a way as to allow audiences to forget themselves speaks to the inventiveness and imagination of Wham City.

More than this, it appears that the members have a genuine affection for one another. If not I’d like to imagine they do because the effort was triumphant and I’d bet that most of the audience left feeling better than when they came. The optimist in me has to believe that there’s sincerity somewhere in that equation.

I’d like to reinterpret the evening by way of haiku.

Photo by Brooke Hall, haiku by Justin Allen.

peer into the dark

for the love of their laughter

no depths too funky

one cop-two coppers

wet was this slow motion kiss

straight man bit anew

Bell Foundry walls

canvas for outlaw painters

lovelier than blah

Egg Schrader strange bird

happened upon a pun or two

the costume cracked up

subtle psychosis

quiet anger building rage

loved laughing at you

strange introspection

two heads speaking inside one

non compos mentis

we came here to smile

and Wham City delivered

thank you belly laugh

awkward serenade

a reluctant volunteer

The Creepers fer sure

3D CGI

you coveted Costanza

brilliant young Resnick

Bowie or Schrader

eyes closed you would never know

look see his package

strange faceless weirdo

call and scare them all away

stalking from afar

prestigious award

drunken lecturer expelled

exponential truth

Tool Time gone awry

the son of Tim died too soon

twisted Wham City

well done you who wham

your levity made us smile

worth all ten dollars