"Dumbo's Olio" (FemmePOP: June 26, 2007)

DUMBO, the Brooklyn neighborhood cradled between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, is known for its annual BKLYN DESIGNS fair, open art galleries, Belgian block stone streets and high rents. Resembling a ghost town some evenings, the nabe has not recently been known for its nightlife, despite the stalwart existence of performance space St. Ann's Warehouse since 1980.

That’s all about to change. With the much buzzed-about anticipated move of Williamsburg’s premiere performing arts space, Galapagos, to a 10,000 square foot former horse stable in DUMBO in 2008, the neighborhood may soon hear more of the clattering of heels across its stone streets. But if you can’t wait until then to check out DUMBO, there is already a monthly homegrown variety showcase at the powerHouse Arena called Dumbolio.

The brainchild of one mad and madly dedicated man named Ed Schmidt, Dumbolio showcases performers you might have seen in a small traveling circus or variety show in the late 19th century. Though there’s burlesque, none of it is of the Badass variety. After all, in New York, the World Famous BOB and Scotty the Blue Bunny can be counted as family fare when performing at more genteel venues.

Part of the reason for such modesty may be the wide open windows of the powerHouse Arena, but the tone of the showcase in general is lighthearted and absurd rather than risqué or political. Last Saturday, Schmidt, a sardonically droll playwright who had fashioned himself into a one-man marching band for the event, opened the evening with an amusingly megalomaniac monologue.

“Some people ask why it’s called Ed Schmidt’s Dumbolio. It’s called Ed Schmidt’s Dumbolio because I’m the creator, I book the performers, I’m the publicist, I fold the programs, I maintain the website, I even pour the drinks,” Schmidt explained. Not an unusual system for small arts shows or performances, but Schmidt did have some unusual characteristics, especially a half-serious desire to impart knowledge regarding performance rather than shroud it with mystery, which is a bit unusual for New York variety. “This is the pedagogical moment. This isn't just about entertainment. I want you to learn something,” he explained. Schmidt’s erudite moment concerned the etymological roots of the word “dumbolio” (which, in turn, inspired our FemmeSavant Bon Mot).

Schmidt explained that the word ‘olio,’ (which descended from the Spanish for olla podrida, for a rich stew of sausage and chickpeas) means a conglomeration of various things – in effect, a variety of seemingly disparate objects lumped together to form something cohesive.

And at times, Dumbolio did feel like a mishmash grab bag haphazardly thrown together and failing to cohere. The audience, mostly well off families or middle-aged urbanites, seemed ill at ease with hula hooping burlesquer Miss Svetlanka Saturn's comical Cold War schtick and her attempts to get someone to spank her half-bared behind every time she dropped a hoop. The music began to skip during her act, and though the DJ graciously replaced it with a (somewhat ill-fitting) hip-hop tune, the rhythm of the act seemed to stutter from then on.Kelli Rae Powell’s embittered bad girl ukulele songs with their double entendres and witty verses seemed to echo right over the audience’s heads in the huge amphitheater-like space. Cardone the Magician lit up a few children’s eyes with his table-floating and voice-throwing acts (and caught mine with his sartorial prowess), but on the whole I was not fooled or tricked (and in this case, I wanted to be). Duo One Ring Zero’s delightful theremin and accordion music was like a creepy Halloween sideshow accompaniment, but lacked a rousing percussion that would make your toes tap and threaten to dance. Comedian Richard Bolster’s act on the dismal thoughts going through a comedian’s head while he is performing in a nightclub (“I’m not looking forward to going home to a crappy motel and watching porn all night.”) seemed to go over the best with the audience, which surprised me until I thought about the demographic represented.

Performers generally put on their best shows in familiar environments, with culturally savvy, participatory audiences – a burlesque performer wants to perform for a crowd that understands not just the sexuality but also the mocking pastiche, a musician or comedian wants to perform for a crowd that understands and appreciates his or her style, or else the "inside jokes" that are really cultural understandings between certain demographics fly right over heads. What was it about this space and this audience that lacked the old-timey warmth or kitschiness of old variety and vaudeville shows? Ed Schmidt has worked diligently to bring these acts, mostly young unfunded working artists, all the way out to DUMBO, but until the audience can understand that variety and vaudeville are about cultural interaction and raucous entertainment, Dumbolio seems more like a science experiment in a glass vacuum than a thriving arena.