Only an Inch

Have you ever seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show? If you have, and it didn’t scare you, then you’d probably enjoy seeing Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Moore Theatre (running for only 3 more days!).

Okay, I know all you’re thinking about right now is “What’s the angry inch?” But I can’t tell you. Not because it’s a big secret or anything — if you ask anyone else (particularly anyone from Jinkx Monsoon’s cult following), they’ll tell you immediately — I just can’t bring myself to type what it is.

Anyway, the show was a fun event! If you’re a follower of Rupaul’s Drag Race (a drag queen television show competition), you will definitely notice that this mostly one-man…woman…man…show is put on by Jerick Hoffer, aka Jinkx Monsoon, the most recent winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race and resident Seattleite.

Most of the show is performed by Jinkx as “Hansel” (or “Hedwig” as she becomes known as), a male-born East Germany resident during the time of the Berlin Wall. The show is an interactive comedy but does have a plot that follows Hansel through major details of her life, such as a botched gender change, her escape from East Germany, finding her “other half”, and finally ending up as a singer on the stage before you.

The show is full of jokes, which surprisingly for me (as I am not one to normally get current events jokes) I understood! Unfortunately there seemed to be a repeating “thing” where Hansel suddenly becomes very intense and stomps around screaming. It got old (though don’t say that in front of the cult followers).

Jerick’s singing is also somewhat questionable, which is why it’s great that there are really amazing singers in his band — particularly the man who portrays Hansel’s husband. I was looking around for a female singer for five minutes before I realized it was his angelic voice.

Alright, fine, I know you’re still wondering about the “angry inch”. It’s the remnant of Hansel’s “manhood” that had to be left behind in Germany. And you guessed it – it’s only an inch of flesh now. The sex change got botched, and Hansel is left, angrily, with an inch. And now you know. If that doesn’t make you squirm too much, you should give Hedwig and the Angry Inch a try! You just might want to cover your eyes during the video projection of the sex change (don’t worry, I did).

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Balagan Theatre
December 17-22