by ⭐⭐⭐½
One of those performances that feels like it’ll be an even stronger hour with packed houses (er, haus’s) by the end of August.
After all, Dylan Adler has musical chops dripping out of his fingers, and for his Fringe debut, he’s under the direction of Sam Blumenfeld, who previously helmed Emily Wilson to a Best Newcomer nomination a few years ago.
But after getting bullied as a child in San Francisco (“Getting bullied in the most liberal city is cunt.”), he began to wonder if his audiences were laughing at him or with him. And he reveals he faced bigger embarrassments as a teen than being gay or having a gay identical twin brother. He does it all with full theatre-kid energy grown up, using familiar rhythms and melodies to parody pop culture and himself. And he can backflip like Benson Boone. Even if it almost backfired on him in at least one opening-weekend show.
“I almost killed that white girl. But she got in on a Pleasance badge so it’s OK.” Pretty soon, though, he’s going to need a bigger stage.
Dylan Adler: Haus of Dy-Lan plays Pleasance Beside through Aug. 24, 2025.
