Aaron Malkin: Dandelion

Aaron Malkin—Tom Hendry Warehouse

I suspect that this is a show that individual Fringe-goers are either going to like a lot or not at all. Aaron Malkin is half of James and Jamesy of 2 for Tea fame, and here he is again in another solo show. A previous solo show of his, Thunderfoot, from two years ago, was a powerfully dramatic account of the death of his mother through the eyes of himself as a young child. In Dandelion, he again mines his family life, this time with stories of his young son Julian.

For this show, Malkin dresses like a giant dandelion, with a bright yellow blazer, green tie and pants, and white shirt and shoes. He begins by talking about one of his recent James and Jamesy shows at the Regina Fringe Festival that had only six people in the audience. His focus henceforth is what it is like to be the father of a young son. He talks about kid jokes, dad jokes, his son’s fascination with dandelions, his son at a swimming pool not following some rules that I could not quite understand, kids making a mess with food and crayons, and misunderstandings that young children have (for example: the lady is pregnant because she swallowed a watermelon seed).

Malkin has a strong stage presence and is an engaging storyteller. If you are a fan of “cute kids stories” (or a whole bunch of them, one after the other), you will likely enjoy this show; otherwise, …

Konrad Antony