The Sweater
The Sweater
By Bernie “OB” O’Brien
Corner Elevator Production Co.</strong>
Bernie O’Brien returns with more tough-guy tales of living in the Jamaica Plains section of Boston. He’s a master of taking mundane events and embellishing them until you are glued to his voice, and he possesses a seemingly endless collection of incidents and anecdotes. I suspect most of them are basically true, but a little voice in the back of my head wonders just where reality starts and stops. O’Brien presents three stories, the first about conquering the wonder of horseback riding at the age of 8. In those frost-rimmed days, one thin dime would buy you a ride around the warm up track at the pubic stables. Imagine a city offering THAT amenity today. The story is warm and friendly, and even the unpleasant ending seems somehow satisfying. Snow sledding and the unwritten rules of the street underlie the next tale: In many Northeastern cities, elaborate rules abound regarding parking spot ownership. When a “Wall Street type” takes advantage of what appears to be a public convenience, the violator is humiliated and won’t be back anytime soon. Lastly, we receive a lecture on Industrial Accident 101 as O’Brien regales us with pranks he played and prank played upon him as an electrician’s apprentice. Most of this sort of brutal workplace merriment is gone today, but I never heard a funnier story about a guy dislocating his arm. O’Brien has more material than your uncle with all the nose hair, and he never repeats a story. That alone is worth the admission price.
This event is part of the 2010 Orlando International Fringe Festival. For schedule and ticket information, please visit http://OrlandoFringe.org
