God’s Pottery: The Concert for La Vert
Rating: 9
We are all God’s pottery, and thanks to Gideon Lamb and Jeremiah Smallchild we can sing all about it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where these two are “saving La Vert everyday at 4:00.” This comedy musical production is a big hit at the Fringe, but if you aren’t lucky enough to be in Scotland this month you can always check out the website at http://www.godspottery.com. Before you get too confused, let me explain a little about this Christian acoustic duo.
God’s Pottery consists of Gideon Lamb and Jeremiah Smallchild, two very talented and brave musicians/comedians who have a laugh at the expense of the Christian faith. Posing as American religious songwriters who yearn to help the youth of the world steer clear of life’s pitfalls (i.e., drugs, premarital sex and bad manners), Gideon and Jeremiah have come to Edinburgh to sing about Jesus. They also want to raise money for their “little black friend, La Vert” who evidently has cancer and needs treatment.
Under this guise, Gideon and Jeremiah regale their audience with songs that are superficially ultra-Christian and yet truly hilarious. After introducing themselves and pinpointing the location of the only Jewish man in the audience, Gideon and Jeremiah sang us a song they wrote for “their other Jewish friends” titled “A Brand New Start With Christ:”
You’re at Temple Shalom
And it feels like home
And you’re surrounded by your crew
But the Hebrew Scripture’s an incomplete picture
Well, that’s how it feels to you
Well Pharoah was deposed and Moses rose up
As the leader of the Jews
It was written so but you oughtta know
What happens in Book Two
Throw in the songs “The Pants Come Off When the Ring Goes On,” “Jesus I Need a Drink” and “Christmas is About the Presence,” and you’re starting to understand what an evening with these guys is like. Just in case the songs aren’t enough, they’ve also devised an ultra-hip PowerPoint presentation to keep us focused. The sing-along is punctuated by four episodes of “Life Skillz: comprehensive guides for the youth” that involve costumes and play-acting.
“Life Skillz: Drugs” features Gideon as the upstanding jock and Jeremiah as a dodgy drug peddler (or was it the other way around?) with a short and poignant scene about the importance of staying clean. The skit ends when Gideon says, “Let me sell you something!” and thus convinces Jeremiah that he’s not really addicted to drugs. He just thinks he is. Wow.
God’s Pottery have done their best to imitate the many religious folk-singers who plagued all of our elementary schools, trying to save our souls in the fourth grade. They’ve got the attitude, the guitar, the mini-keyboard and even the vacant grins. The addition of “Life Skillz,” with its own out-of-time theme tune, is the icing on the cake. I felt like I was back in school, watching one of dozens of similar concerts, but having the benefit of an adult brain. The one that says, “this is shit.”
Christians, don’t be too offended, for God’s Pottery is sure to make fun not only of Christians, but also of Jews, Muslims, deaf people and even the Dutch. What can I say? It’s hard to laugh unless someone gets hurt. If you aren’t a particularly sensitive type, I recommend a visit to http://www.godspottery.com. Download a few songs while you’re there and see if you can convince the guys to do a few shows above the border. After all, “Gideon is very interested in other cultures, specifically Canada.” Great show!