My Barbarian, The Night Epi$ode

Death panels, unemployment, executive bonuses—Rod Serling would be the perfect commentator for current events, so it’s kind of perfect that the Los Angeles performance trio My Barbarian has adapted Serling’s 1970 television series Night Gallery to today’s scary political climate. Turning the gallery into a viewing room, Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon and Alexandro Segade present six episodes, plus one pilot, of their faux show, mixing horror and humor with low-tech production values.

The pilot episode introduces the three protagonists of My Barbarian as “nightmare curators,” mimicking the attitudes of museum professionals as they compare notes on the most frightening dream scenarios. “It is disgusting, but is it the best kind of disgusting?” asks “the blind curator,” dressed in a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses. The answer is provided by the series of episodes, each remarkably succinct and entertaining.

In one, a yoga devotee contracts a flesh-eating disease after assuming a toxin-releasing pose. He turns to a voodoo doctor for a cure, only to be shocked by the exorbitant bill. In another, a husband leaves his wife when she announces she’s unemployed—“You’re going to ruin everything with your preexisting condition”—so the woman turns to an alien being in hopes of going on its insurance plan. Unfortunately, she finds out that they’re a same-sex couple, not covered in this alternative dimension.

My Barbarian’s approach is never didactic or silly, even as it makes fun of overbearing political art and mindless television dramas. I recommend this show as an antidote to the latest ravings of Glenn Beck.—Barbara Pollack

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