Former member of the late, lamented Shoves improv group, Charlie Sanders,
shines in his own one-man scripted show, “You’re Welcome,” which gets another encore at the UCB
Theatre 7:30 p.m. Satuday, July 8.
Sanders presents several boldly deluded and pathetic characters -- a meth-tweaking
neighbor obsessed with pitching outlandish movie ideas, a Papa John’s employee way too taken with his job, a contender
for the world’s fattest man record, a paranoid pot dealer, and an unprepared performance poet.
His characterizations are framed by a version of himself as the self-absorbed
actor bringing all these characters to an audience that should be grateful, as he reminds us with his constant “You’re
welcome” refrain.
And we should be, because Sanders’ transitions are seamless, his
characters are inspired, and his show does not have any lulls. Sanders keeps the moments coming throughout. His Charles Potamus
character, incensed at being passed over for the Guinness Book of Records, vents a hilarious table-pounding rage that will
have you falling off your own chair.
Amid all the good work in this show, Sanders also scores another masterful
moment as his crystal meth user spins an outlandish action film plot of time travelers battling Hitler, who has somehow been
transposed to become the enemy in Vietnam. (Imagine what a tweaking meth user might come up with). This will truly double
you over.