Dandy Darkly

Dandy Darkly is New York City’s cult, queer and horror storytelling sensation. A Southern Gothic sissy, satirist, author and internationally acclaimed alt-cabaret performance artist, he premiered his fifth show, Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard!, at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe.

Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard!

Where were you the night the Gaybird Steamer ran off her rails? Dandy’s latest storytelling spectacle is a Southern Gothic tall tale as told by the peculiar characters there that tragic night. From the little queer boy shackled by the ghosts that still haunt him as an adult, to the cruel Colonel buried in his bunker, tinkering with his toys, All aboard, ladies and gentlemen, for Dandy’s most bat-shit bonkers show yet!

Vestigial white trash twins! Drag queen robots! African spider Gods! And trains, trains, trains! Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard! is a raucous uprooting of deep Southern shame, searing social satire, and howling humor, equal parts queasy and beautiful. Utterly unlike anything else at the Fringe, welcome to the wicked world of Dandy Darkly.

More about Dandy Darkly

Dandy Darkly’s award-winning performances have astonished audiences and critics at Fringe festivals and theatres on both sides of the Atlantic. His deliciously dark and hilarious tales of sex and death offer a unique and tantalising take on social norms, popular culture, and the very nature of storytelling. Dandy is both low brow and academic, high-minded yet pornographic.

On stage, Dandy delivers a breathless patter that shifts seamlessly from bitchy to bittersweet, creepy to poignant, all revealing a surprisingly elegant critique on modern life. Each story unspools alongside a nonstop soundscape of prerecorded music, composed by musical partners Adam Tendler, Bryce Edwards, and Rachel Blumberg. Dandy’s shows are peppered with eerie and eclectic sound effects to create an immersive storytelling experience. Longtime collaborator Ian Bjorklund also returns to Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard! as director.

Previous shows

2013: Dandy Darkly’s Gory Hole!
Dandy Darkly’s Edinburgh debut was a solo show sampling a broader spectrum of his now signature tales of sex and death. Culled from Dandy’s work as a New York City cabaret compere and variety show producer, Dandy Darkly’s Gory Hole! turned critics’ heads and set a decidedly tawdry tone for his forthcoming Edinburgh returns.

“A decidedly wicked storyteller.” New York Times

2014: Dandy Darkly’s Pussy Panic!
Dandy’s second solo show focused on the insidious casual misogyny practised by too many gay men. The show was heralded as a feminist celebration of the classic interpretations of womanhood, as found in arts and literature — the maiden, the mother and the crone — not to mention an uproarious deflowering of the beguiling mysteries of the feminine, ahem, form.

“Unsettling, hilarious and political, Dandy Darkly’s Pussy Panic! is a searing critique of queer culture, celebrity obsession and misogyny.” ★★★★ The List

2015: Dandy Darkly’s Trigger Happy!
Dandy’s third show delicately tackled the difficult subject of gun violence with the panache expected of this now seasoned Fringe veteran. Playing the dual threats of physical violence (American gun deaths) up against emotional violence (the unspeakable horrors of “triggering”), Trigger Happy! was a sobering, yet side-splitting examination of a truly all-American epidemic.

“A scathing indictment of contemporary American society — and somehow there’s a star-spangled glimmer of hope.” ★★★★★ TVBomb.com

2016: Dandy Darkly’s Myth Mouth!
Dandy’s most recent show served as a love letter to all the fabulous queers before us — the eternal pantheon of grand old queens of stage and screen who inspire to this day with their bitchy wit and artistic wonders. From Cha-Cha, humanity’s first sissy, to social media deceptions and Martian space kittens, Dandy’s fourth show focused on the various aspects of mythologising and truth-telling, exploring how belief often proves more powerful than reality in the vast scope of things.

**Nominated: Three 2017 New York Innovative Theatre Awards** 
**Winner: Best Show at the 2017 San Francisco Fringe Festival**

“There isn’t a storyteller as engrossing, twisted, or as sequined. Dandy Darkly’s Myth Mouth is a show of mythological brilliance. A master of myth and the duke of the deliciously debauched.” ★★★★★ Grumpy Gay Critic

 

Photo credits

Action image: Rolando Sepulveda II, OUTsider Arts Festival 2018
Biog image: Stuart Liam McConville, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016