Credit: Photo by Sandy Carson

Adira Amram

Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4

Forget daylight saving time: Set your clocks to boom-jazzle time, a glittery epoch populated by misguided American Idol contestants, a drunken electro-pop wedding DJ, and crazed disco nerd Adira Amram. A swirl of neon spandex and ruffles, Amram maniacally stared into the audience under eye shadow that would make the Human League weep. “We’re going to be a romantic family,” she purred. “RomanticFamilies.com. Check it out. It’s gross.” Whipping out her bacon-cheeseburger kazoo for a blast of “Gonna Make You Sweat,” she broke Friday’s early laugh drought in the comedy tent by reviving it as a kindergarten Studio 54. Taking a trip through Olivia Newton-John’s disco phase, the thrift store Peaches “FingerBlast”ed the receptive crowd as her backing writhers the Experience threw sultry poses. It wasn’t all just bad-touch time, as the call-and-response ode to lost innocence “Tiny Vagina” tearfully showed, but Amram’s deranged and hilarious obsession stayed with the overwrought world of bad dance music. In a last punk swing, she crowd-surfed, joyously shrieking “Don’t drop me!” with the mad energy of a 5-year-old on Yo Gabba Gabba!

This article appears in November 11 • 2011.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.