From Victoria to Vancouver Fringe, Who is Crazy for Dick Tricks?

In what keeps me coming back for Crazy For Dick Tricks is in how Tim Motley is a consummate entertainer. He knows his playing cards and every new deck he has to burn through inside and out, can rap with the best (I wonder how he’d do in a battle slam moment though) and can bring in the crowds at many a performance venue. He’s wrapping up his round of shows at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival and will soon visit Vancouver Fringe starting Sept 6th.

Double entendres aside, which makes up part of the appeal of his shows, his style of stand-up comedy is right up my alley!

On stage, he is Dirk Darrow, a hard-boiled 1930s detective. He’s the P.I. who can woo any femme fetale in this latest case (complete with a few James Bond style voice over moments), He’s the Dick in that true old-fashioned sense where he’s right at home with Sam Spade. I first saw these shows under the assumption he’s a paranormal investigator than private, but when I saw his magic prowess, I was hooked. Some iterations include him applying mentalism too, so the occult is never too far.

Continue reading

Advertisement

[Victoria Fringe Festival 2016] Dirk Darrow Returns for 6 Quick Dick Tricks

edmonton-fringe-festival-2016-the-play-is-titled-6-quick-diLOCATION:
The Roxy Theatre
2657 Quadra Street
Victoria, BC

SHOWTIMES:
Sun Aug 28 – 10:00pm
Wed Aug 31 – 8:00pm
Fri Sep 2 – 9:45pm
Sat Sep 3 – 2:00pm

The mystery of how paranormal investigator Dirk Darrow landed into our century to solve crimes for us is explained 6 Quick Dick Tricks. After past shows like Not Completely Serious Supernatural Investigator and 2 Ruby Knockers, 1 Jaded Dick, he apparently is here to stay! Tim Motley is a master of his craft, and he’s created a very memorable character which has certainly made me want to come back for more! He’s a comedian, magician and actor who knows how to work a crowd and his abilities to probe into the mind of audiences, myself included, makes me wonder just how does he pull off his parlour tricks? By random choice — technically he asks if the subject knows him or not — people attending his shows might get selected to choose a card, any card, and he will tell you exactly what you got.

I’m sure there’s a way to mark a selected card after it’s being handed back, but he’s amped up how this trick works. The pack is contained by an elastic band and instead of one, five people were selected! He nailed every card selected, and while I kind of pulled a fast one on him — when he asked to toss the pack back at him — it was before he could count to three. He managed to roll with it, and Dick has his wry wit to snap back at me and I laughed.

Continue reading