Absurd person singular

We have a friend who performs under the moniker Dirck Toll.  Today he was premiering a new one-man show in Saratoga, so we went along to see.

The venue was Caffe Lena, since the '60s a Saratoga legend in its own right - part cafe, part arts/music/poetry theatre.  We squeezed into the tightly-packed seats, cheerily acknowledging many other friends in the audience.  It was all rather reminiscent of theatre-going in our student days.  Then "Toll" came on stage and entertained us for an hour with his own absurdist brand of humour.

In four separate pieces he introduced us to a talking reception desk, and the crucial importance of  decorative plates;  the truth about upholsterers (they are all disillusioned taxidermists) and the dubious attractions of clam-snorting; a judge with a creeping moustache who bases his judgements on the law of averages, and a diminutive golf caddy - from a miniature golf course, naturally; and finally he explained how to outsmart - by in-dumbing - the denizens of Expert Town and Idiotville.

The jokes and puns and wordplays fell thick and fast, and the audience was happily carried along by Toll's flights of fancy.  The Girl, along for the ride, sniggered mightily - especially appreciating throwaway quips like: Violence is never the answer.  Except when the question is "What is never the answer?"