Fleck Mixes Comedy, Commentary in ‘Dirt’

Here’s the real dirt on “Dirt”--flamboyant performance artist and social provocateur John Fleck’s new piece brings his signature outrageous style dangerously close to self-parody, but still scores deft jabs at scandal and commercialism.

Unfurling rolls of toilet paper as he threads his way through the tables at clubby LunaPark, Fleck makes his audience privy to his most embarrassing whimsies as he purges his “psychic fur balls.” Then he turns those tables by offering financial incentives for onlookers to reveal their own “dirt” and even perform in one-minute showcases.

The result is a curious mix of stand-up comedy and scathing social commentary, rendered in a frenetic torrent of anecdotes and free associations, and a fair amount of pontification. Throughout, the hard-working Fleck’s skills as a mental contortionist keep the pacing quick and lively, even when the substance wears thin.

In an opening “docudramedy” about the tired White House scandal, Fleck imagines himself cast as Monica’s sitcom twin a la “The Patty Duke Show,” but the satire pales in comparison to the unending real-life absurdity. Far more effective is his extended narrative about a trip to Joshua Tree and his disappointment at finding that the natural tableau looked fake.

Fleck’s inventive use of visual imagery--however revolting--is one of his strengths. Pawing his way through an onstage pile of dirt, Fleck reduces lofty platitudes to elemental impulses. Ripping his way through seemingly inexhaustible layers of underwear proves a metaphor for endurance in the face of arts funding cutbacks, which Fleck counters with his mocking “Sell Your Dirt” campaign. A sardonic finale of “The Green, Green Grass of Home,” set against a runner of Astro Turf, sums up this eclectic, sardonic tour of fakery and money-grubbing in their many-splendored forms.

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* “Dirt,” LunaPark, 665 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood. Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends March 21. $12. (310) 652-0611. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.