Zigzagging between the outrageously silly and sometimes the downright crude, Garry Starr: Classic Penguins is not precisely a solo show because spectators willingly get themselves involved in its comical doings. Opening Tuesday at Studio Seaview, this 70-minute event presents a series of screwy literary charades brought to occasionally raunchy physical life by a bright-eyed gentleman wearing a Shakespearean ruff around his neck — and usually little else.
Possibly not since Puppetry of the Penis has an Off Broadway show aroused such naked laughter.
Like that offbeat endeavor of a quarter century ago, Garry Starr: Classic Penguins hails from Australia. Damien Warren-Smith, an award-winning Aussie clown, here assumes the guise of Garry Starr, who lectures on literature in highfalutin’ accents. The mustachioed Starr’s grandiloquent manner contrasts with his semi-nude attire: A stovepipe hat, a claw-hammer tailcoat, that starchy ruff as previously mentioned and, oh, yes, a pair of large orange penguin’s feet.
[Read Roma Torre’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
The relatively bare stage features a modest bookcase displaying rows of Orange Penguin Books; that distinctively colored paperback series devoted to celebrated literature. This show’s seemingly spontaneous entertainment consists of Starr grabbing these volumes and producing comical riffs, often with the happy assistance of people from the audience. A large screen offers live close-ups of some of the action. As the show proceeds and Starr strips off those webbed feet — and everything else — matters tend to get crazy.
Early on, when “Gulliver’s Travels” pops up, a volunteer finds himself being bound to the stage with masking tape; some of the laughs erupting from seeing a virtually naked Starr evilly crouching over the guy during this process. Not incidentally, the performer is an agile, nice-looking fellow in his mid-40s whose trim, hairy body and bits soon are revealed to one and all. Sometimes in very close proximity. His admirable physical flexibility is highlighted during a graphic sequence inspired by Treasure Island that, alas, must go undescribed. The Grapes of Wrath and A Clockwork Orange sees the artiste splattered with fruit thrown by spectators while The Communist Manifesto, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Little Women are among titles amusingly proving his prowess for improvisation with viewers. His solo bit for Dracula hilariously involves a breakable doll and a big bottle of V-8 juice he chugs down to growing cheers. Eventually, The Waves sends the increasingly antic Starr fearlessly bodysurfing amid the audience, which appeared delighted to manhandle his body more than a dozen rows deep into the 286-seat auditorium. Let’s mention that the press representatives assert no paid personnel are planted among the spectators.
Subsequent performances of Garry Starr: Classic Penguins are likely to vary somewhat according to the whims of the audience, of course, but director Cal McCrystal coordinates some apt, effective sound and lighting cues to enhance this quick series of vignettes driven energetically by Damien Warren-Smith’s comical mad professor-type character. Warren-Smith’s ability to work strategically with individuals as well as a crowd is a treat to witness, although the gamier aspects of his performance will not appeal to conservative tastes.
Consumer note about Studio Seaview: Those sadly worn-down Rem Koolhaas seats left behind by the theater’s previous resident have now been replaced by more comfortable (though obviously still vintage) seating. I suspect once word breaks on this show, they will all be occupied for the remainder of its limited engagement.
Garry Starr: Classic Penguins opened September 8, 2026 at Studio Seaview and runs through October 11. Tickets and information: studioseaview.com
