Sometimes a hopeless gamble seems so much sweeter when all you got is bad luck.
You'd sell your soul for a taste of gold and a bottle of love to suck.
But you'll always lose when you choose to gamble with the Devil.
Unless you're aware that when you dare no playing field is ever level.

This little ditty was inspired by Algonquin's fantastic new production of Shel Silverstein's The Devil and Billy Markham. It tells you a little bit about the premise of the show. Billy is a musician down on his luck who takes a bet from the Devil that he can roll a thirteen with a blank pair of dice. Sure, he loses his soul, but that's just where the story begins. Billy and the Devil are more alike than they know and when it comes to backstabbing and selfish acts, they are running neck and neck. Just when you think one has the upper hand, the other comes from behind (sometimes quite literally) and gets the better of the other. It's a hilarious and absorbing story told in verse by a narrator.

Shel Silverstein originally published the play as a series of narrative poems in Playboy magazine back in 1979. Silverstein may be best known for his children's books but he is much more than a children's writer. He's written famous songs such as "A Boy Named Sue," and many articles and books for adults. He was a cartoonist for Playboy for quite some time. However, with The Devil and Billy Markham, Silverstein makes a bold statement about the unscrupulous nature of humankind. Granted it's nothing that hasn't been said before, but it's the way he says it that makes this play and Algonquin's production of it so captivating.

Algonquin keeps it simple. We have just one storyteller backed up by two musicians. Brit Herring tells the story with loads of energy and distinct characterizations. Herring's creeping sideburns and rockabilly style create the perfect look for the person telling this story. He makes every single minute tantalizing by drawing us in with his eyes and gestures. He goes the extra mile stanza for stanza and never appears to be reciting poetry. He delivers a powerful and unforgettable performance along with his backup musicians.

Sean Singer and Trey Albright play guitar and drums respectively. They have a great handle on the style needed to sell the moments they play through, and director Thomas Cote does a fine job placing them. They jam with zeal for brief stints while at other times they provide some sound effects. Cote also does a great job with the intimate space. He never forgets that with this play his audience wants to feel like they're sitting around a campfire listening to a yarn being spun as if it were spontaneous and living. Lighting designer Evan Purcell also creates some good movement with light in a play that has very light movement.

I had a great time at this show. The venue is cabaret style so I was able to relax and have a drink while I watched Herring and his companions pay their dues to the Devil.

THE DEVIL AND BILLY MARKHAM
Genre: Comedy

Reviewed for OnOFFOFF By: Fred McKinnon

The Devil walked into Linebaugh's on a rainy Nashville night
While the lost souls sat and sipped their soup in the sickly yellow neon light.

So begins the wickedly delightful and scurrilously charming performance piece "The Devil and Billy Markham," being temptingly offered in the subterranean Huron Club at the Soho Playhouse. The extended narrative poem, consisting of rhymed couplets, by the multi-talented Shel Silverstein (writer of both children's and adult literature, poet, cartoonist, screenwriter, composer and lyricist) evidences the author's vast creative resources on stage, as it did when first published in the January 1979 issue of Playboy Magazine and presented as a one-act play at the Lincoln Center Theater in 1989. But be prepared. This is not your typical poetry reading. And the bar is open a half hour before the show in this cozy cabaret space.

And the Devil, he looked around the room, then got down on his knees.
He says, "Is there one among you scum who'll roll the dice with me."?

When the lights come up, Brit Herring-looking every bit a blues man-takes the stage between The Broken Pockets Band (Trey Albright on percussion and Sean Singer on guitar) and they commence transporting the audience on an hour long imaginative and toe-tapping journey from "Music Row" to Hell and back again, with a few additional stopovers on Earth and even a visit to Heaven.

And there stood Billy Markham, he'd been on the scene for years,
Singin' all them raunchy songs that the town didn't want to hear.

Mr. Herring accepts the challenge of the written word and creates his own tour de force as Narrator, Billy Markham, the Devil, the world's greatest hustler's agent Scuzzy Sleezo and God himself. Misters Albright and Singer contribute not only musically by tunefully crossing t's dotting i's but also dramatically by punctuating the plot with their subtle gestures and evocative glances. Under the "don't-miss-a-beat" direction of Thomas Coté, Billy Markham's (and the audience's) odyssey is full of delightful surprises, often enhanced with the almost understated but poignant lighting design by Evan Purcell.

And now he wears his crimson robes and his horns are buttered bright,
And blood oozes through his white-linen gloves and his skin glows red the night.

Brilliance of performance and verse abound with the steady pace of Billy's fall and rise and fall, but there are episodes of pure esoteric delight (Billy's "Miltonian" descent from Heaven to Hell for the Devil's wedding and a description of who is at the fiendish gathering doing what as "the walls that separate Heaven and Hell crack and crumble away") can easily be burned in one's memory.

Along with all of the diabolically enjoyable machinations, Shel Silverstein has cleverly infused "The Devil and Billy Markham" with some verbal and metaphysical spicings. The latter, relating to the nature of good and evil as well as the devil and God, may be considered heretical by some; to others they might be philosophically thought-provoking and down right fun.

Me and Beelzebub by Lauren Snyder

The Devil and Billy Markham
reviewed November 3, 2006

Britt Herring as the Storyteller
Photo Credit: Gerry Goodstein

If theater is about surprises, then good theater is about pleasant surprises. To those who go to see Algonquin Productions's presentation of The Devil and Billy Markham, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

The first surprise is that the show is performed not in a traditional theater space but in a sexy, low-lit lounge. Small cafe-sized and rectangular tables sit close together and within whispering distance of a bar serving drinks during the performance and afterward, for those who want to linger. Serving as the playing space is an open-mike setup at the front of the room, with a guitar and drums.

The second surprise is that the show's text, derived from an epic poem by Shel Silverstein, is less reminiscent of Silverstein's tender children's books, such as The Giving Tree, and more like a country music song. (The poem was first printed in a 1979 issue of Playboy.) The poem tells the story of a Southern man, Billy Markham, who loves to take all bets, and the Devil, who loves to make Billy miserable. Despite the fact that the odds are stacked heavily in Beelzebub's favor, the story is equal parts darkness and light, as Billy learns how to play the Devil's game—and to even beat him at it.

The third surprise is that this one-man show is one entertaining hour of theater. From the moment Britt Herring swaggers through the crowd and onto the stage, his Storyteller character captivates the audience through his portrayals of the dim and down on his luck Billy, the clever, cajoling Devil, and a few other colorful characters who come across their path. With only a guitarist, a percussionist, and a slick lighting design (courtesy of Evan Purcell) to back him up, Herring's dramatic baritone provides all of the scenery and special effects a theatergoer needs to visualize this fantastic tale.

As he struts and sweats his hour upon the stage, switching from character to character, Herring impresses with his commitment, memory, and stamina. Through the use of accents and posturing, he easily differentiates his characters, and changes them with ease. Instead of scene changes, there are pauses between chapters of Billy's story for Herring to grab a drink or show off his harmonica-playing skills. He doesn't make it look easy to do a show by oneself, but he sure makes it look fun.

Some productions have Broadway aspirations, and some simply aspire to be staged and seen. A show like The Devil and Billy Markham is too compact in length and scope for a big stage, but it's just right for the Huron Club. Surprises can come in all sizes, and at all venues.