Puddles Pity Party perfects Brecht's Alienation Effect

M&P cofounder, Tobin Atkinson, did much of his MFA thesis work dissecting Brecht's theatrical theory better know as the "Alienation Effect".  Atkinson even penned his own play entitled The Alienation Effekt which employs most of Brecht's principles.

Last weekend the M&P crew discovered and fell in love with Puddles, a sad-yet-golden-voiced clown covering Lorde's pop hit "Royals".   The persona of Puddles immediately distances the audience from the set up of pseudo-lounge act.  We are comfortable with the reality of handsome combo musicians and lovely backup singers when this unexpected creature enters the scene.  A truer "wtf" moment never existed.  However, the second Puddles starts to sing the song (far better than Lorde ever does), he makes you listen to the song in a "new" way.  You actually hear the song differently.  

By "alienating" the audience through unexpected extremes, signage, and altering the words to pop tunes, Brecht was attempting to get his audiences to listen intellectually to the song rather than emotionally.  Puddles, whether he knows it or not, nails what Brecht was always striving to achieve:  reality disrupted by a giant in a clown outfit, a suitcase with a web address, and pop song (where you can actually understand the damn words!), and a voice that could melt butter.  

Viva La Puddles!