FRIGID New York: The Bike Trip

Just a few quick words about Martin Dockery's The Bike Trip, which is currently running at The Kraine as a part of this year's Frigid Fest. This is not an unbiased review as I know Martin - I wrote a horror short a few years ago that he acted in . Also, as I've said so many times here before: I'm not a critic.

His one person storytelling extravaganza of awesomeness is all about stuff like LSD and Martin's quest to recreate Albert Hoffman's bike ride during the world's first acid trip and about backpacking on the cheap in India and mostly about making meaningful connections with other people and one's own feelings and all that. Phew. The upshot of that champion run on sentence is that although, yes, the show is about doing LSD, it's about all these larger life things, too. Like all truly great storytellers, Martin is likable on an almost preternatural level. He envelops the audience in the shared experience of what he is creating up there on stage in a way that is truly special. Nothing feels forced, it never seems as if he is reaching for pathos or effects - it's a seemingly effortless ride. And like all things that are seemingly effortless, there was likely an enormous amount of time and work put in. That said, I wanted to tip my (metaphorical) hat to director Jean-Michele Gregory for her gorgeous and rightly invisible work here.

CORRECTION: Another point proving that I'm in no way a journalist. Jean-Michele, while she did in fact direct Martin's two previous shows, did not direct this one. From Martin:

Jean-Michele's direction appeared invisible on this production because she wasn't actually involved in it. (There was no director.) Or perhaps she REALLY was invisible, even to me. That said, JM has been a wonderful influence on me and my work, having directed 2 previous shows, so I wouldn't really mind if she got credit either way!

There are still a couple of performances left. More info here.