The return of America the Game Show
Chris Griffin is one of several actors who will doff their clothing in "America the Game Show"
One year ago, Kate Taylor Davis and Jared Davis decided to make light of American history in the run-up to July 4th with a crazy romp they called America the Game Show. F*ck Yeah!. It was a hit. A big hit. And, as with any hit, they’re doing a second round this year.
Of course, things have changed in a year. Most significantly, America has Donald Trump as its President. And that, says Chris Griffin, will alter the course of the night.
“It’s a little bit darker this year,” says Griffin, who will appear as his familiar drag alter-ego, Lucrezia Blozia. “It’s a little bit more subversive.” Part of the evening’s aim is to remind the audience that America had many other dark chapters in its history, long before Trump. Though it will do so in a way best described as completely nutso.
Take Drunkle Sam, for instance, a character who sits in a corner, stone-cold drunk, and narrates a segment entitled “Great Naked Moments in American History.” Griffin is one of several hapless actors forced into nudity — in his case, exposing himself to, er… enhance the tale of the Alamo. Griffin will also get to do some probing — and it’s not what you’re thinking.
“We have an alien probe game,” he laughs, “and I play the alien.”
Aliens, coincidentally, play a part in Griffin’s own production, Tales from the Round World: Calls to the Alien Crime Hotline. Debuting July 7 at the Black Cat as part of a monthly series, the show pokes fun at the fact that the Trump administration established a hotline for people to report illegal alien activity. Pranksters subsequently flooded the line with calls reporting UFO sightings.
Alien Crime Hotline will benefit a good cause — the nonprofit organization Many Languages One Voice. “They do a lot of sanctuary city work,” Griffin says. “They do a lot of work with immigrant students who have English as a second language.” And who said crime doesn’t pay?
America The Game Show. F*ck Yeah! is Friday, June 30, at 8 p.m. at GALA Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20. Call 202-234-7174 or visit astropopevents.com. It’s also Saturday, July 1, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, July 2, at 1 p.m., at Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave., Baltimore. Tickets are $20. Call 410-276-1651.
Calls to the Alien Crime Hotline is Friday, July 7, at 9:30 p.m., at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door. Call 202-667-4490 or visit facebook.com/buttthecircus.
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