ONE MAN. 60 MINUTES OF DISASTER.
EVERYTHING FAILS MAGNIFICENTLY!
Ron Campbell is a clown all right. This is apparent from his first pratfall, which occurs about eleven seconds into his show, How to Fail. In this day and age of radical, assaultive clowns who prey on their audiences’ psychological foibles and are more comfortable staring out at a young child from a sewer opening than tumbling out of a miniature VW center ring, Campbell is a definite throwback. Not to your traditional Barnum and Bailey grease-painted Emmett Kelly “Weary Willie” buffo, but to the personality farceurs who were featured on the Johnny Carson Show and in Vegas lounge shows (for those of us who remember Johnny Carson or lounge shows). Campbell follows in the tradition of Soupy Sales (Milton Supman 1926-2009,) Josè Jimènez (Bill Dana 1924-2017), and Super Dave Osborne (Bob Einstein (1942-2019), brother of Albert Brooks) who all replaced grease-painted faces and floppy shoes with big personalities and motley attire.
But of all the personality clowns, Campbell is hoisting the banner of Professor Irwin Corey (1914-2017) “The World’s Foremost Authority.”
Campbell comes out on the Actors’ Gang stage that is emptied except for a music stand, small projection screen, whiteboard, broom and bucket, yet each of those items proves a formidable foe to our maladroit instructor there to present his course “How to Fail” at the Learning Annex. After wrestling with the projection screen and finally extricating his foot from the bucket, Campbell finally greets us, “I’d like to welcome all you who have self-awareness. You know who you are.” He then reads us school announcements: “The Pessimist Society is having meetings by disappointment only.” “The Nihilist Club is having meetings never.” Later, it’s “I met a man with five penises—his pants fit like a glove.”
Campbell is a master of rapid-fire paronomasias, carriwitchets., double entendres, wisecracks and jeux de mots—they keep coming non-stop.
Campbell’s silliness in berating the reputation of success does come with a point: That Laughter is one of the great dividends of failure. And if you’re a fan of goofy word play, give Campbell an hour and he’ll prove it to you.
How to Fail
The Actors’ Gang Theater, 9070 Venice Blvd in Culver City
Thurs-Sat at 8
ends on May 3, 2025
for tickets ($25), call 310.838.4264 or visit The Actors Gang
for more shows, visit Theatre in LA
