It is Saturday, April 18, 2026, in downtown Montreal. I walk through the busy sidewalks of Chinatown to find the MEM venue. I am about to see a clown show, I tell myself disbelievingly. It had been a very long time since I had seen such a production, and I was excited. I was going to see Dirt Trip, a one-person show created and performed by Alex Tatarsky, part of the 2026 edition of the Montreal Clown Festival. I found the indoor Marquee design above the hall entrance to be particularly enduring, reminiscent of old-school theatres. The objects scattered on the stage grabbed my attention instantly. There was a hanging clown mask, two white columns made of buckets and giant cardboard cylinders, a colourful paint kit, fluorescent plastic clown shoes, and a big yellow RONA bucket with the NA painted over, and a T added to it, giving us the word ROT.

​

The creator describes their show as a decomposing lecture performance. I, on the other hand, would describe it as a staged meta meltdown, meaning a clown performance of a clown in crisis about clowning. Self-referential, if you will. I watched this sad and disturbed clown walk onto the stage in a tired-looking costume and even more jaded makeup, and was reminded, as fast as a vulture in the desert, of Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons. Alex Tatarsky delivered a buffoon rebel-clown style, multifaceted, half-assed performance. They took us through a multitude of memorable and mundane moments involving playing instruments, singing satirical songs of protest at the current state of the world, physical theatre, hurling a tomato on themselves, splattering a shaving cream pie in their face, passing the ROT bucket around to collect random objects from audience members, accents, drinking beer, smoking, chewing on a five dollar bill, lecturing us on the history of clowns, and fake-farting. I think the attempts, unfortunately for us, at provoking the audience were successful, as sounds of disgust emanated from the audience throughout the evening. I looked around and tried to distinguish who was uncomfortable or amused, but couldn’t make a clear judgment. However, it seemed that this show had attracted a predominantly white middle-aged audience. The sound effects and music created by Shane Riley worked well with Tatarsky's choices, complementing key dramatic situations and enhancing the atmospheric elements of the piece.

​

Watching Dirt Trip felt like watching a train wreck happen in real time, which was pretty entertaining to say the least. There was something cathartic about seeing someone lose themself like that on stage. A grotesque satisfaction at observing the revolting side of human beings. The stage literally decomposed at the hands of Tatarsky, as they destroyed and smashed almost everything within reach. The use of props and objects effectively conveyed emotion throughout most of the spectacle, but was intentionally boring and pointless at other occasions.

Although I appreciated some of the historical content, I found it quite USA-centric and questioned how relatable this was to the history of Clowning in Montreal or Canada. I wondered how pertinent it was to watch this American compost-obsessed artist perform a political show that was criticizing Western imperialism and capitalism. In fact, Tatarsky made references to the current apocalyptic state of the world by discussing Bread and Circuses and the history of jesters and harlequins, as well as by presenting the historical context of evil being associated with clowns. I yawned halfway through, another white neo-anarcho-hippy using subversive means to tell us they’re a leftist and that COVID was really hard for them. I was bored because I had heard this countercultural narrative too many times, and I did not learn anything new, except perhaps that the smell of a spoiled tomato is very distracting. The repetition of generalized liberal statements regurgitated by such artists fails to express anything specific, relatable, or engaging. The assumption is that the impact of capitalism is the same on all individuals and that we should collectively agree on the same things. The lack of intersectional nuance bothers me. I no longer want to hear statements that impose homogeneity, such as: we all suffer because of War, therefore we must eat the rich. I want to dive into a piece that explores the specific repercussions of these oppressive systems on you as a clown artist or perhaps even, as an individual. Contemporary political theatre needs to break through the status quo and offer audiences a new perspective worth investigating creatively. Let me sit a while longer, in your bedroom, where you told us you compost your rotting vegetable scraps, nail clippings, and hair. We all know the world is rotting, tell me more about how the mold looks and unfolds to you.

Dirt Trip played at (MEM) Centre des Mémoires Montréalaises as part of Le festival des clowns de Montréal on April 18th, 2026.

https://www.mtlclownfest.com/project/dirt-trip/