In DC Trash’s Waiting for Armageddon, Ron Litman and Composer Tom Pile string together a series of songs and stand-up comedy, all producing the same message: The end of days is upon us. The question that Litman poses throughout the show, however, is exactly how the end of days will come. Will it be an asteroid? A pandemic? A nuclear war? And of course: will it be of our own doing? Litman dons different costumes throughout the show, and portrays different characters, each with their own song, to try and offer a different view of the impending apocalypse.
When performing offensive material, as Litman does all too often in Armageddon, a performer can generally get away with it (to a point) if the material is funny. Litman, however, isn’t funny in the slightest when he is offensive, most notably taking aim at the military. During much of Armageddon, The house was silent, as Litman paused again and again for laughter that would never come.
One of Litman’s characters is a preacher, and quite fittingly so. His point (the end of days is upon us) seems to be made in the first minute of the show, but he aggressively repeats himself for about twenty minutes., before posing any sort of question, or giving any real meaning to the performance beyond listing reasons to be scared about the rapture. Laughs do come – very sparingly.
Running time: 60 minutes.
Waiting For Armageddon plays through July 25, 2014 at Atlas Performing Arts Center on H St NE, in Washington, DC. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to their Capital Fringe Page.
