Reviewed by Matt Ritchey

Dandy Darkly is a fantastic storyteller in the classic American tradition of Mark Twain, telling ghostly tales peppered with a liberal amount of political activism. Where he and Twain differ is the sparkly jumpsuit, the fiendish clown make-up, and the broader world view. (I only assume Twain didn’t have the jumpsuit.)

In Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard!, it’s better if you don’t know exactly what you’re getting into when hopping on board Dandy’s story train. He’s a master in the oral tradition of storytelling and creates vivid characters and situations which, in the flick of a phrase, instantly turn into something for more insidious. Each story he tells is better than the last and he weaves what appear to be disjointed tales into a seamless and exciting fabric. I was reminded of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman more than once.

The writing is so good it could (and perhaps should) become a book of shorts, but the performance by Dandy Darkly is riveting. With a perfectly-timed soundbed giving the show even more emotion, Darkly weaves a world of heroes, spiders, dark hollows, injustice, courage, and creepy robots.

It has been said of this show that “the less you know, the better.” I can’t agree more. Run screaming toward Dandy’s Dark Narrative Locomotive.

Very Highly Recommended

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