Pit of Goblins

With people steadily disappearing, the local community pressures the sheriff (Bisschop) to do something. But he is an inept sort whose only ambition is to get up stage and sing a song in a local festival. It doesn’t help that a local radio shock-jock of the Alex Jones ilk (Bisschop) broadcasts odious conspiracy venom. These two bumwads deliver most of the questionable comedy. Enough for snickers, but not guffaws.

The scariest of things is not that which slinks behind walls, lurks in the dark, or hides deep within a dark and ominous pit. It is that which stands before us, in plain sight, and often without giving us the remotest clue of how truly frightened we should be. Hollywood Fringe veteran Mitchell Bisschop's newest multi-media infused show, "Pit of Goblins," tells the story of Wayne, a small-town serial killer who feeds his victims to a pit of goblins in the woods in order to avoid discovery. In this, Bisschop paints both a funny and realistically sad picture of a man who, encouraged by desperation and a comically twisted justification, commits acts of horror in order to prevent the destruction of his hopes, dreams, and aspirations within his community.

What did I just see? Was it a sly, satirical take on the hardships of a serial killer? Free will vs. fatalism? A salute to Dolly Parton? Yes! Twisted, dark, perverse, heartwarming, with matter of fact moments of lunacy, Mitchell Bisschop threads absurd premises and moment to moment reality together with a sense of play. The result is invigorating while simultaneously making you ask "WTF am I watching?" I can't wait to see his next show. My favorite Fringe show this year.

What a funny, creative concept! I love stories that are different and out-of-the-box, but still entertaining and relevant. Pit of Goblins is definitely that. I love how the story combines humor and horror, two of my favorite genres, to justify the actions of a likable serial killer who found a way (with the help of a Pit of Goblins) to kill but not get caught. Similar in tone to Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mitchell Bisschop's irreverent sense of humor is priceless. There are tons of great lines in this show that if you blink, you’ll miss them. Writing like this keeps an audience on their toes. Go see this show, if you like different, smart comedy.

Not only is Bisschop a truly incredible writer and performer, but his video sections, while sometimes an assault to cover some costume changes, are professional and disturbing – and I mean that in the good way. Pit of Goblins is a blast and one can only imagine what comes next from Mitchell Bisschop – I’m betting on a trifecta of greatness.

Highly Recommended

What I liked

Strong opening monologue in which Mitchell explains why he has to kill while keeping the image of being a nice guy. Heck, he’s the sheriff in town, so he must be trustworthy, right? It’s eerie to think how serial killers appear “normal” to their communities, in this particular case a small town in Albuquerque, NM.
I also enjoyed the radio talk show host role who gets some of the biggest laughs from the audience in last night’s performance.
I loved the scene where the bright strobing light that gives an eerie effect as he slowly stood up after the Goblins sent him telepathic messages that knocked him unconscious. I was waiting to jump outta my seat at any moment.

What I didn't like

Who needs a graphic designer when you have the hand drawn illustrations making you shake your head and chuckle? I had to remind myself this is Fringe and I shouldn’t question his artistic choices, it’s all part of the dark comedy skit! See? I laughed, didn’t I? Isn’t that the whole point?

My overall impression

Mitchell’s performance was great, a chameleon of many faces that surprises and delivers. Great beginning but it turned convoluted to absurd towards the end.

Last year, Mitchell Bisschop’s reworking of Madison Avenue icons into the Citizen Kane homage of I Can Hear You Now, demonstrated he was writer/performer of both talent and a sterling comic sensibility. This year’s Pit of Goblins reveals a far more twisted aspect to Bisschop. A writer/performer of talent, yes; just one you may not want to leave your children alone with.

Generating appropriate horror in a theatrical setting can be very, very hard. For most of Pit of Goblins, that underlying sense of impending horrible things looms very large in just the right way. Combining that horror with some excellent characters and sharp comedy equates into a show that is enjoyable and dark, funny and ghoulish, all at the same time.

This was a really funny and clever dark comedy which I happen to love! Well developed and well performed character work. Out of the box and a nice twist! It was YOU without the love story :)

The jokes in this are incredibly well set-up. The running gag of the talent show had me rolling. Also, the show does a great job of constantly juxtaposing the way our psychopathic main character is with the way he perceives himself. The dissonance generates a lot of laughter.

In fact, all the characters Mitchell plays are well-realized and distinct, each having a clear purpose and arc to them. There is a one-scene wonder Alex Jonesalike who is goddamn hysterical.

Speaking of arcs - my god, I loved the emotional arc of this piece. It's very dark comedy for most of the show, but then... well, not to spoil, but by the end, things get very bleak in a way that I found delictable. Some people might not be able to balance the horrible fucked-upedness with the slightly absurd tone of the rest of the show, but it was entirely my jam.

The video aspect was hit or miss. There were a couple of video segments that contained gags, information, or moved the plot forward, but there were a few that seemed to be there to fill space, likely so Mitchell could have a break from constant talking/change outfits. It was apparent based off audience reactions that one of them was an in-joke that I didn't get. Most of the time the video worked, but a couple of times it put a halt to things just when the action was picking up.

The frame of the main character speaking with the doctor in the woods didn't quite work for me. I like the idea of him talking with someone so that he's not just spouting off to the audience, but it raised a lot more questions to me along the lines of, how are the goblins preventing the doctor from going straight to the cops?

This show was right up my dark, twisted alley. If you like your humor pitch black or are a fan of well-produced, well-performed solo shows, here is a piece for you.