Pleaseeasaur :: Low-Budget Hip-Hop
2000-02-03
SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT
“Nooo!!” moans the Abominable Snowman. “The world ran out of beef!” Clearly, he’s distraught. “Nothing more can dry my tears than a beef, a big pile of beef.”
Welcome to the Pleaseeasaur show. The man in the snowman suit is J.P. Hasson, 23, a Beck-like ironic showman who raps (sort of) about topics like “Sexy Lip Hair” and “Paul McCartney’s Penis” and (yes) “Beef-Flavored Island,” accompanied by the weakest beats in hip-hop, plus cheesy synth riffs and visuals scribbled on an overhead projector. Over the course of the show, Hasson slips in and out of countless costumes: Pez-flavored Elvis, Astronaut on Peyote, Friendly Pink Sasquatch. The Seattle-based performance artist may be the Andy Kaufman of his generation, or Saturday morning gone wrong, or just completely insane. One way or another, he’s taking the Pleaseeasaur tour nationwide starting this week. The show will hit the Hi-Bar in Santa Barbara this Saturday, February 5, and the Troubador in L.A. the following day.
Both Pleaseeasaur shows will include screenings of two digital movies. First up is Santa Barbara’s own Tomorrow Never Knows, a 20-minute sci-fi puppet show featuring state-of-the-art hokey special effects. Next is Doomed Planet. Its story, according to Seattle-based creator Alex R. Mayer, goes something like this: “Two cults battle for supremacy in the streets of Seattle in the bittersweet days leading up to Armageddon. Along the way they engage in cult rituals, panhandle, and fly to Tokyo to see a band.”
Admission is five dollars. Beef-flavored party favors will be provided for early birds. [DT]
