Review: DAVID MILLS RIOT ACT! at Martuni's San Francisco

The apocalypse just wouldn’t be any fun without the rapier wit ruminations of actor/comic/performance artists David Mills, here in San Francisco for two shows as part of his ‘four-show national tour.’ After decades in London, Mills is back in NYC and his acclimation isn’t as joyous as you’d think. With his silver-tongued signature and very droll manner, he launches into a nightmarish description of a stroll uptown replete with rats, feces, homeless drug addicts and children selling Chicklets. The harangue is intermixed with “Native New Yorker,” a 1977 soul dance hit.

Nothing falls off Mills radar, with scathing comments on LGBTQIA+ political correctness. “How did we get stuck with asexuals?” he asks. He snarks on drag brunches, children’s parties, Shen Yun (Chinese Trump loving Rockettes), and San Francisco’s Civic Center (Beyond the Thunderdome). He segues into Oscar Brown Jrs’ “The Snake” asking us to decide which character he is- the foolish woman who saves a snake or the reptile who by his nature, kills her.

Back to NYC woes, Mills’ philosophy is that the city will resolve itself. He’s thrilled to be there, and riffs on the number of one-line roles he’s auditioned for and been rejected. It leads to his cover of “You Can’t Win” from The Wiz with its message: “You can't win, Child, you can't break even, And you can't get out of the game “. Self-diagnosed with rage disorder, Mills focusing his laser sharp critiques on Katy Perry going into space, having to find new friends after alienating all his old ones, and his new drugs of choice fentanyl and Adderall, which must be safe cause they’re prescribing them to children.

Mills creates a dark, very disturbing character- an older gay man well past his prime, trolling the gay scene hoping for love but settling for a one-night stand. It’s a sad observance leading to a cover of “Something Cool,” June Christy’s signature tune of sexual tension and emotional complexity. It’s a very smart mashup and made total sense.

Russell Deason accompanied on piano, and Mills closed the set with a “MAGA national anthem,” James McMurty’s “Choctaw Bingo,” a rambling honky tonk tune full of wild comic characters. I worked with David in the late 90’s in his San Francisco days and saws the flashes of brilliance that have been honed and wonderfully realized in his current works. He continues the unapologetic legacies of Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl and more recently Scott Capurro. His style is in-your-face tastelessness, sexually vulgar at times, but always original and wickedly funny.