Gerard Harris

Monologuist Gerard Harris is my kind of guy: he’s wildly articulate and he masturbates a lot. Harris’s show, which is very funny and smart, is also a kind of human sacrifice. He peels his psyche so that we can know ourselves better, sharing stories of bodily fluids and other emissions. We hear how he was trapped under a 300-pound pedophile at ten, how he astral projected listening to the album Waiting for Cousteau, and how he tried to type a farewell note while caught in a burning building: “Being a writer, I didn’t get very far.” It’s all about vulnerability and how the act of storytelling helps us to make meaning out of chaos. Harris is wired, charming, and generous. - Georgia Straight

Verbal Diarrhea, Actual Diarrhea, Heartbreak & Disorder

4 stars out of 5

Stage 10, Acacia Hall

Storyteller Gerard Harris tends toward the first, has instances of the second, and makes a good tale out of everything in the title in this nearly one-hour performance.

A quotable man who speaks in a torrent, hunched over with hands flying about, Harris is also able to keep the audience’s attention focused despite jagged leaps in narrative, from paranoid Jewish mothers to bungled preteen love affairs, disasters involving shellfish and potentially ugly encounters with 300-pound perverts. Do they tie together? Not always, though there is an underlying motif to Harris’s act that satisfies.

He’s prone to self-deprecation, philosophical ruminations, and descriptions that might make the more sensitive audience members wince — which is why you definitely should go see him.

— Tom Murray

That’s Enough Drama, Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom

Runtime: 60 min Genre: Storytelling
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In a delightfully unique British accent Gerard Harris gives a very funny intro at Merchant Man Next Door about the ground rules on what he is about to deliver. It was apparent that we were about to witness a rhetorical cocktail of the pro’s & con’s of diarrhea with the art of story telling.

Verbal Diarrhea, much like Busted was a shameless recount of childhood. It may seem that this one is geared towards an all-male audience looking for some immature, push the envelope stand-up grossness, but surprisingly the audience was mostly female & the subject matter was, although immature at times, relatable to both sexes and not (although including profanity) offensive to the point of making anyone seem uncomfortable.

Besides that fact that Gerard has seen much more of the world than I, it was easy for me to relate to a lot of his situations including his search for inner peace, starting over in his mid-thirties after a divorce, and a love of writing. A rough entrance to the world, an underdog from day 1, he’s seen some big heights & walked some low valleys for sure. There are some deep thoughts from the silly to the serendipitous & deeply personal matters that would be difficult for anyone to share in public.

I learned much about how to weave a narrative from the heart of a true storyteller with a rawness that goes largely unseen. Believe it or not, this is a Fringe performance you can definitely take a date to. Gerard Harris is a class act & we’re pretty lucky to have him performing in Charlottetown 3 more times this weekend! Check out his blog at http://gerardharrisdotcomistaken.com/ - ONRPEI.CA