Brett Bailey Delivers Surreal Satanic Road Trip
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- Christopher Brett Bailey performed a live reading of his 2023 surreal novella, delivering the script at a table with a microphone, slurping, hissing, and whispering.
- Alex Fernandes provided lighting that reddened Bailey’s skin during the performance.
- Satan is portrayed as a has‑been conspiracy nut with a bloated ego and a desire to shag anything that moves, driving the story’s extreme vice and erotic tension.
- Bailey extended the show by about 15 minutes beyond the planned length, then tightened his grip toward the end to sharpen the narrative.
- This Is How We Die (Bailey’s 2014 beat‑poet monologue) is cited as a benchmark for intensity, with the current reading described as less motor‑mouth intense but still vivid.
Why it matters: The extended, immersive reading gives audiences a rare, adult‑oriented literary experience that pushes live storytelling beyond traditional stage conventions, while the 15‑minute overrun challenges typical performance timing expectations and highlights the demand for bold, experimental narrative formats and signals a growing appetite among niche audiences for boundary‑pushing performances that blend literary art with theatrical flair.
