by Steve Desroches
This show is stupid in the best possible way. There’s no uplifting underlying message, no storyline meant to educate, no subtle political point, and no character who is a hooker with a heart of gold. Gene & Karl Are Ptown AF is a delightfully crass comedy revue starring comedians Karl Gregory and Gene Dante, two gay guys who skewer all the absurdities of life in Provincetown, and then some. That means lots of jokes about rim jobs, anal warts, water sports, and the Dick Dock, which at this point is clearly deserving of a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. If you have any other questions as to what this show is about, you’re already overthinking it. And that’s the beauty of the show, it’s just good fun and big laughs in this showcase of gay, gross-out humor.
Gene & Karl Are Ptown AF (the AF stand for “as f**k) is presented by Lucky Devil Theater Company, founded by Anthony Gelsomino, who also wrote and directed this show as well as last summer’s Provincetown Murder Mystery, an equally brash and funny romp through the ridiculous aspects of Ptown. The offerings of Lucky Devil Theater Company are wonderful throwbacks to the days of vaudeville, complete with a toe-tap of a punch line and a comedy rimshot “ba-dum-tis” on the drums and cymbal to bring it home.
The two stars of the show drive home the humor with a reckless demeanor on stage that adds to the fun, making it more like an evening of revelry than a strictly scripted show. Dante is well known both here and across the bay in Boston for his work as an actor and fronting the rock band Gene Dante and the Future Starlets, which was the house band for the Gold Dust Orphans’ production of The Rocky Horror Show at Club Oberon. Gregory, who along with Dante co-starred in Provincetown Murder Mystery, hails from Ithaca, New York, where he was a member of the Kitchen Theatre Company after earning degrees in theater from both Syracuse and Brown universities. All of that experience, and an Ivy League degree to boot, actually plays quite well into this “whore de force” of a show.
It runs rather brief at about 45 minutes, even by Provincetown standards, where audiences have notoriously short attention spans. But that makes it a good stop on a night out on the town for a few laughs and a drink or two before heading on to the next adventure on Commercial Street. The only earnest critique of this show that tickles those of us with immature senses of humor is that it lacks a diarrhea joke. Gene & Karl Are Ptown AF is perfect for those who want to escape on their Cape Cod vacation, don’t take life too seriously, and love to laugh at jokes that combine bodily fluids with lobster rolls.
Lucky Devil Theater Company presents Gene & Karl Are Ptown AF, Tuesday at 9 p.m. and Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. through August 15 at the Crown and Anchor, 247 Commercial St., Provincetown. Tickets ($25) are available at the box office and online at onlyatthecrown.com. For more information call 508.487.1430.
