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Culture Theatre

Fringe review: Full Body Pull

FULL BODY PULL by Gillian Bartolucci (Haggard B). At Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. July 8 at 8 pm, July 9 at 9:15 pm, July 10 at 5 pm, July 11 at 10 pm, July 13 at 7 pm, July 14 at 1 pm. See listing. Rating: NN

Gillian Bartolucci‘s solo sketch show about her ever-evolving relationship with her mother is very much like the faux medical condition in its title.

A full body pull is when you’re pulled in so many different directions that you wind up pulling every muscle in your body at the same time. There’s freedom to that structure, as Bartolucci flies off into wild and idiosyncratic directions (one sketch features a stand-up routine by a self-deprecating wig).

But an abundance of cliche zingers and the buffoonish portrayal of the mom character doesn’t add up to the emotional payoff that Bartolucci hopes for.

Rather than coming to a moment of catharsis, the show winds up being one big spasm.

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