There are a few musicians with the ability to use snark and satire to bash down the walls of conventionality surrounding our national obsessions. Tonight the guitarist tears into his annual “17 Strings of X-mas” presentation with characteristic aplomb at Snug Harbor.
DeGruy is at his best around the more commercial holidays whether they be sacred or secular. Describing his show as a “special assault on x-mas CULTure,” I expect humor, wit, and dervish-like attacks on his 17-string creation, which is known as a guitarp. Plus several well-known Christmas songs with “dubbed” lyrics as in the video below.
A master of the pun, DeGruy’s between song commentary, filled with sotto voce asides and “I just thought of this” comedic improvisational riffs, mixes a deadpan approach with more over the top witticisms than most “professional” comedians can muster in a month’s time.
DeGruy can entertain even the most jaded humor connoisseurs without even touching the guitar in his hand. When he returns to the actual task at hand in a jazz club, chuckles are replaced by the silent sounds of mandibles drifting downward.
Unless of course, the listener is a fragile sort willingly absorbing the politically correct dross of contemporary society at face value. If you find yourself in that number (and who among us really does), odds are you haven’t gotten this far in this post, but be fair warned—DuGruy’s humor leaves no sacred fig leaves attached. Fortunately for the conservative or closed-minded, his fretwork exempts none from wonder.
Showtimes are at 8 and 10 PM.
