Arts & Entertainment Compass

“Mother Boswick” opened at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in NYC this week. The creator behind the fun David Magidson has created his drag character “Mother Boswick” as a fusion between his clown self and a more raunchy adult oriented set of jokes. In addition, we get the treat of meeting two other alternative characters (friends of Mother Boswick) with strong overtones of camp and drag: Milton Spritzer – a greasy vaudevillian comic, and Old Man Boswick – a positively ancient exercise guru.  

No stranger to touring, this wonderful performer has previously appeared in the Hollywood Fringe Festival in Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and frequently performs in San Francisco. He’s made an impression as a clown in the important historical movie “Milk” and the more mainstream comedy with Eddie Murphy “Dr. Doolittle.” While David’s more masculine coded and seasoned character “Boswick the Clown” appeared on tour across the country with Ringling Brothers Circus and Barnum & Bailey Circus, “Mother Boswick” his newer drag persona has actually existed for over 20 years. She appeared fully formed and wildly popular in a children’s film called “Here Comes the Clown.” David admits that at that time, he wasn’t quite ready to open up Pandora’s Box that is drag… but he is certainly ready now! 

There is room for everybody to do drag and to put on a dress, and Mother Boswick reminds me of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 8 Winner Jimbo the Drag Clown (by way of Canada’s Drag Race). These performers might be similar in the ways that they integrate prop comedy, repetition, and subtle shade into their set. The flashing of underpants, the swishing of a vintage mumu, and the quoting and naming of old timey celebrities fall underneath a niche “granny drag” hearkening back to Dame Edna and Miss Richfield 1981. If Mother Boswick had not been so stuck in her cue cards, I would have liked to see her get up and move about the theatre, as I’m certain the character we met claiming to have survived 14 husbands could’ve used her physicality to tell the story, rather than remaining seated in her favorite chair. 

The audience for the performance I attended was relatively muted, but Mother Boswick made the most of the festival theatre’s intimate setting. She interacted with their audience, calling out our reactions and our lack thereof. Her loose storyline including the invented setting “Squinch Hollow” seemed to get off on the right foot toward a journey into absurdity. However, we lost our way somewhere between the repeating of too many similar jokes and the lack of any real thread of plot connecting the three characters. If I knew why Milton Spritzer was there interrupting Mother Boswick, how they knew each other, or how they felt about one another, I would feel much better about the lengthy transition time spent changing clothes and locations between characters. Similarly, is Old Man Boswick a relative of Mother’s? These are questions I would like answered on the next tour.

You won’t be able to get a ticket to Mother Boswick’s next performance, which is SOLD OUT. But feel free to join her for a glass of her finest La Croix on Sunday, June 28th at either of her final two shows at 11:15am and 6:15pm.