Sameer Reddy’s “The Idiots” – a metaphysical game show. Photos and report by Glenn Belverio

Dear Shaded Viewers,

Last week I attended a thoughtful and laugh-out-loud funny performance by Sameer Reddy entitled The Idiots–a metaphysical game show. It was staged upstairs at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn restaurant ISA–a cozy room with an old-fashioned wood-burning stove and a mysterious proliferation of Navajo blankets. Clairvoyant cocktails made with sage were proffered. Sameer was assisted by performance artist Seung-Min Lee.

Sameer explains the piece thusly:

'The show's title, "The Idiots", developed out of the questions "what do we really know?" and "how do we know it?" We're constantly anticipating the future, but our assumptions about the shape of things to come are largely based on associations, memories and fantasies, as opposed to real knowledge. In that sense, we're all idiots.

The concept of The Idiot also plays a role in the teaching of Gurdjieff, which I study, where idiocy seems to maintain a pejorative character, while at the same time relating to the development of individuality. Perhaps the path to a true knowledge grounded in our individual experience (as opposed to the associations, memories and fantasies which currently substitute for a real Self), involves witnessing and accepting our current idiocy. Perhaps by recognizing our own lack of Self, we can begin to allow for that Self to develop.

The performance used different forms of prediction to explore the limits of our knowledge, ranging from the metaphysical consultation of theTarot to more mundane guesses as to prices of prizes.

Those were the ideas that animated the performance. Its form was loosely modeled on game show tropes –specifically referencing Jeopardy and The Price is Right. I tried to maintain a tension between the question of what is "serious" and what is "silly" by interweaving humor and gravity, and hopefully by the end, assumptions about what constitutes the difference between those two labels were muddled, and the audience could see that the same question could be simultaneously funny and profound.

The form also problematized assumptions about progress, based on verticality and hierarchy. In The Idiots, the losers were the winners, and the winners were the losers, suggesting that one can progress through acknowledging the limits of one's knowledge or ability. Maybe being an idiot isn't such a bad thing.'

The audience kind of reminded me of the party guests in the "Time Warp" scene in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Seung holds up a sign that says it all, succinctly and accurately. Actually, this was the category one of the contestants chose.

This was the Tarot reading Sameer did on the fate of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's marriage. Yes, that is an upside-down Devil and yes, the prediction was not so sunny.

Lady Gaga's Career Prospects….we don't need a tarot reading to figure that one out! Did you see here standing on the deserted red carpet at the Oscars, after all the stars were already in the theater?

The contestants who predicted the outcome of 2 of the 3 tarot readings each received a dollar. The contestants who answered none, the losers, were brought up for a final round to win prizes by guessing the prices a la The Price is Right. The losers were the winners.

Seung displays one of the prizes. I think it was an iPhone from the future.

After the show, a gigantic wooden table was erected so Sameer and his friends could enjoy a private dinner in the performance space. The food at ISA is super-delicious (and the staff is delightful) so I might have to stop saying bitchy things about Brooklyn on Facebook. I had mussels in wine, an unconventional rendering of gnocchi and some spicy, smoky mezcal cocktails. I met some delightful people. There are no photos because believe it or not, I occasionally just like to live in the moment!

Thanks for reading.

Love,
Glenn Belverio