Hooray for Speech Therapy

Too Much Free Time Productions

Victoria School Auditorium

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Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday

Rating 4

Kurt Fitzpatrick still stutters once in a while, but that doesn't get in the way of the laughs, and learning, in Hooray for Speech Therapy.

The one-man show reveals Fitzpatrick's real-life struggle as a stutterer, and is part stand-up comedy and part crash course in speech therapy basics.

The actor enthusiastically delves into the techniques he has used to overcome his stutter: the flow, the flutter, amplitude contour and stretched syllables. Particularly priceless is an argument in which both sides speak in two-second syllables.

Kirkpatrick's comedic one-liners don't always hit their mark, but on the whole they are sharp and surprising. His voices, especially one mocking a pompous clinician, are an exaggerated riot.

Occasionally, Fitzpatrick experiences a momentary "block" as he struggles to vocalize a word like, well, "stutter." But rather than harming the show, these small setbacks confirm the veracity of the story, showing that Kirkpatrick must still work to maintain his vocal fluency.

A history of stuttering or not, Kirkpatrick's delivery is impassioned yet concise, his enunciation exact and his cadence warm and inviting. He's got a gregarious personality, and the audience is quickly drawn to like him, even to root for him.

Showgoers leave with a funny and personal insight into the life of a person who stutters, and we are better off for it.

© The StarPhoenix 2007