Warning: Tricks the Devil Taught Me

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:48pm

I had the extreme misfortune of sitting through the matinee of Tricks the Devil Taught Me today and I want to warn anyone contemplating buying a ticket (or going on a comp) to steer clear. I see my fair share of theater and this has to rank up there as one of the more unbearable, mind-numbing and pointless pieces of garbage I've endured.

First off it was three hours long, which rarely works out for anyone. The scenes dragged on and on and on and on and on. Every character was leading a miserable existence, but there was really no plot/central conflict to the play. It was just one long slog of misery.

I went to see Mary Testa, and she has a tiny role that could really be cut. I can't really blame any of the actors, as they all do their best, and in good plays I actually think would turn in some fine performances.

The problem is Tony Georges, writer and director of this mess. The most interesting thing about this guy is this website I found when I googled him at intermission...http://sites.google.com/site/tonygeorgestricksthedevil/tony-georges-background

I don't know if any of this is true, but it sure made my friends and me laugh.

Truly sitting through this made me feel like I was in a Seinfeld episode where my friends and I were at a show and the first act just wouldn't end. Every time another rambling scene was fade to blackout we were ready to get up when the lights would come back on to reveal another scene set to begin.

The play ends with what's supposed to be a rather intense and serious scene, but the remaining audience members were having nothing of it and were laughing at certain character outbursts. The whole thing had become so ludicrous. Please don't misunderstand this to mean it was so bad it was good. It wasn't like that at all. There was just no choice by the end to have any other reaction but laughter.

Updated On: 8/1/11 at 09:48 PM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:52pm

I agree with everything Whizzer said. This piece of crap was one of the hardest things I've had to sit through in a long time. If I were the type of person who left a show at intermission, I certainly would have done it at this show. (I saw a few people leave DURING Act 1 actually)

I beg of you - even if you get comps, even if someone pays you to see it - DO NOT waste your time with this one. Words cannot describe how awful it was.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 10:19pm

Horrible, horrible, horrible. Worst of off-Broadway's 2011 by far. Three hour rambling mess. And my shirt was soaked in sweat by the time the intermission came (1 hour and 40 minutes into the show) since apparently the air conditioning was not working.

What was the director thinking - THREE HOURS????????? Could totally lose the first 30 minutes (plus much more throughout the play)

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 10:40pm

I agree with all the preceding posters regarding this play.

I would add that if you're a fan of so-ludicrous-it's- funny dialogue, you'll find plenty of it here, if you've got the stamina to sit through a three hour slog.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 11:14pm

Wow I had a comp ticket for today's matinee, but could not make it after seeing Sleep No More's 11pm-2am show last night and not getting to sleep until 5am. I'm relieved. And 3 hours??? I was expecting a 90min show for some reason.

[snakeinmyboots]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 8:52am

I know everyone has their opinions on this board, which is perfectly fine, but I wanted to respond with my feelings from seeing the show last night, because my reaction seems to be have been very different from those who saw the matinee. I read this board a lot, but I've never felt compelled to join in the discussion until now. My friend invited me yesterday to see Tricks because of the promotion they were running. He had a friend in the cast, so I admit that I have a small bias. However, I had to say that I and everyone around me was raving about the show. I really mean that. We were really thrilled.

Yes, it was too long. But when we stayed and talked to the cast (there were a LOT of people waiting to talk to Beth Grant and Mary Testa) they said how excited they were about the show and the great response, and they mentioned how they were cutting about half an hour from the show but that they hadn't been able to rehearse the cuts yet since it was their first weekend.

Last night's performance received a standing ovation. I'm not saying that the people who had a horrible experience at the matinee were wrong, I guess I'm just saying that I think we ought to be understanding of new shows when they have only been open for 2 days of previews. I have worked for three nonprofits here in NY, and new plays are always rough at first. And the heat wasn't a problem for me. Maybe the heat had a great deal to do with the discomfort of the audience at the matinee.

Like I said, I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think we ought to stand back and look at the bigger picture before we start to say things are the worst show of the year. I mean, that clearly isn't actually true. Even if you didn't like it, it can't possibly be the worst show of the year. We enjoyed it so much, and thought the acting was amazing. That's just my opinion, though.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 9:00am

Thanks for that, shill. Very nice of you to post your thoughts. What time do you have to be at work for the show today?

[snakeinmyboots]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 9:05am

I'm there right now trying to fix the air conditioner!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 9:13am

Ladies and Gentlemen mark your calendars!! For today, August 1st, 2011 - A Shill has confirmed it's shilliness to the board. It has never happened before and it will probably never happen again.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 9:24am

"Like I said, I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think we ought to stand back and look at the bigger picture before we start to say things are the worst show of the year. I mean, that clearly isn't actually true. Even if you didn't like it, it can't possibly be the worst show of the year."

snakeinmyboots, I get that you're allowed to have your opinion and like the show, but speaking for my friends and myself it was the worst thing we've seen in about a year. Can you name something worse that has played in the past year? The only thing that comes to mind that I was in equal pain was the revival of Vieux Carre by The Wooster Group, but this was worse.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 9:36am

At least he's a handy shill.

Hopefully, tonight's audience won't have to sweat through the performance.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 9:37am

I'm sure they'll be sweating through it, AC or not.

[snakeinmyboots]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 9:40am

I think the show is incredibly clever. Really. I don't have any problems naming shows that I thought were worse, because I honestly thought it was actually good. And by good, I mean actually really good. Just long. And that's being fixed. I like it better than tons of shows currently playing on Broadway. In my opinion, it's better than most of the musicals that were nominated this year. And I think there's something to be said for the fact that a new play is being produced in a commercial venue on this scale Off-Broadway. Not that I have anything against the bubble shows, and the white singing space people, but I think it's good when people take a risk and try a brand new drama. To me, it makes me excited that there are still people out there who try. I just don't want everyone to hate it before we even know what it is. So much can change in a short time.

[Hexley]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 12:39pm

This is one of the worst plays I have seen in my entire life. I would have left at intermission had my friends not wanted to see how this mess of play would end.

It is a truly horrible piece of writing.

I love Beth Grant and Mary Testa. They are the reason I went to see the show. The cast is very good, but the show isn't.

Perhaps if the author weren't directing his own play, it might have potential, but it needs severe editing.

[dexter3]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 2:39pm

Haven't seen the production, but I read through the information contained in the link above, and I'm horrified with the actions of Tony Georges in Odessa.

Granted, he's was 20 years old when all of that Betty Buckley and Daisy Eagan stuff went down, but he made huge mistakes, both financial and professional that he never made amends for...

If the show doesn't last at the Minetta Lane, then I hope he'll take responsibility for it instead of skipping town like he did in Odessa. Either way, I hope he'll grow up and repay the lost money and try to undo some of the damage he did in Texas.

Trying to suddenly take a step off-broadway with no real experience as a writer or director will hopefully be a teaching moment for him, but more importantly, I hope he keeps his financial promises to all involved in the production.
Updated On: 8/1/11 at 02:39 PM

[once a month]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 2:52pm

Reading the reactions of the majority of this board, I'd definitely stay clear. The honest gut reactions I've just read made me remember feeling the EXACT same way coming out of THOU SHALT NOT, lol. If only I had been warned!

Thanks regulars!

[Calvin]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 2:56pm

Can you name something worse that has played in the past year?

Was this worse than Desperate Writers?

[snakeinmyboots]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 3:01pm

Without meaning start a riot among others who, like myself, are not regulars on this board, I'd just like to point out that the website dexter is talking about is clearly coming from someone with a vendetta. Who knows how much of that information is true. Since I know people working on the show, I also know that everyone adores the writer, and many of them worked with him during that mess in Texas. He is giving people jobs. He is producing work in NYC. I don't see why someone who chooses to take a risk should be shunned even before their show opens? And the actors are wonderful. They certainly can't be blamed for what may or may not have happened many years ago in Texas. I would really encourage everyone to attend the show and see it for themselves before they decide it isn't worth anything based on reviews from performances that were never intended to be reviewed.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 3:07pm

Thanks, shill!

Fix that AC yet?

[snakeinmyboots]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 3:25pm

Nice and cool now!

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 3:42pm

Oh!

This is THAT show where the passive-agressive sock puppet came here a couple of weeks ago to ask everyone if the NY theatre community should embrace a criminal producer! Then pointed us to that makeshift website with a list of funky "facts" about all the bounced checks and Harold-Hill tactics from his shameful past in Texas.

And now we have Schneider from "One Day at a Time" fixing the AC while condemning BWW posters for reviewing the show after just one preview while he fully confesses to having a connection to the production.

Wait! Could the criminal producer and the AC repair dude be one in the same? Or perhaps they are mulitple personalities of the same woman?

Tune in tomorrow on AS THE THREAD TURNS.

Updated On: 8/1/11 at 03:42 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 4:23pm

"Was this worse than Desperate Writers?"

Both plays were atrocious. Desperate Writers was desperately trying to be funny, without a single laugh in it. This one was attempting to be serious, while being unintentionally funny, amidst long stretches of boredom. The level of vulgarity in this one was so grotesque it too prompted incredulous laughter.

So because of the laugh quotient, I would say that as a theatrical experience, this horror was better than Desperate Writers.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 5:51pm

Out of curiosity, since I will not be seeing this, how was the physical production? I've only ever seen Fringe shows at the Minetta, so I'm curious to know what it's like with an actual production.

[Hexley]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 8:17pm

I thought Tricks had good lighting and sound designs. The set was okay, if not outstanding.

I saw Jeffrey and the Most Fabulous Story Ever Told at the Minetta Lane Theater. Those were both excellent productions.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 8:30pm

I just notice that young con man from Odessa is behind all this, how can he get away with mounting an Off Broadway show? He must be the most charismatic and charming person in the universe.

You owe thousands to people from your hometown and your next play is called "Tricks the Devil Taught Me"? Hope he never runs for President, because he'd sure win.