Dylan Bolin Going To Elm Grove

The somewhat reasonably funny comedian Dylan Bolin finds himself in Elm Grove in February. His one-man show Peace, Love and a 30-Year Mortgage makes it to the stage of the Sunset Playhouse February 4 – 6.

Bolin brings the show to Elm Grove having staged it at In Tandem’s 10th Street Theatre this past November. The show, which focuses on Bolin’s travels from growing-up an Indiana hippie to being a mortgage-paying Milwaukeean, strays a bit from traditional stand-up comedy---(the press release refers to it as, “deeply touching.”)but it’s interesting to see one guy performing a biographical monologue show in theatrical venues. With the right exposure, he could end up following the same sort of pattern John McGivern has in the past. The parallels between the two performers go beyond biographical monologueslike McGivern, Bolin has appeared onstage in other shows and has even ended up with a regular guest gig on the WKLH morning show with Dave and Carole--also a venue for McGivern.

Two people following similar careers as biographical entertainers hardly constitutes an artistic movement (or even a trend, really) but it’s interesting nonetheless. And with any luck, two local people meeting with this kind of success in a local market could open the door for others. It’d be nice to see a growing number of single-person performers jumping onto theatrical stages for one-week shows every now and then throughout the year. It’d add a little variety to the local stage and perhaps add some valuable crossbreeding between theatre and stand-up audiences. Or maybe not.