SoLow Fest 2018: Steve Lippe's 'Texas Wiener!'

Saturday's opening was especially personal because the only audience member was this critic. Fortunately, we're acquainted through working in small theaters decades ago that occasionally experienced tiny audiences. Ever the stage pro, he gamely plunged in.

Universal frustration

Lippe shares the story of his debilitating knee condition, specifically a period when he encountered harrowing obstacles to obtaining an artificial cartilage that's injected into each knee, informally called "chicken fat" because it's made from rooster combs.

Anyone who's dealt with American medical bureaucracy knows frustration and humiliation, but Lippe's experiences are particularly grim. Having insurance spared some expense, but not the agony and insult of poor customer service and administrative negligence.

If only there was a better way to provide healthcare, right?

The tale's laughs come from Lippe's "gag reflex" philosophy. Since childhood, he's tried to find humor in unpleasant situations, responding with a gag rather than retaliating with insults, anger, or violence — and it works, despite the many challenges he faces.

That's no hot dog

Lippe uses the Art Church's centrally located staircase as his home base, occasionally standing and hobbling with a cane, wearing shorts to show his surgery scars. His delivery is fast-paced and casual. Texas Weiner! might almost be a friendly conversation with a charismatic pal, if not for its well-crafted characters and focused dialogue, suspenseful build, vivid descriptions, and wry insights.

The title comes from the tale's darkest hospital moments when basic bodily functions are complicated and embarrassing because he can't get out of bed. Can he overcome this low point with his trusty "gag reflex"?

Texas Weiner! seems a great fit for storytelling platforms like PBS's The Moth. But why wait till then?