Drew Droege (Image by Russ Rowland, rrsnapshop.com)

My friend was so sure I'd love Drew Droege's one-man show Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, directed by Michael Urie, that he aggressively bought me a ticket and escorted me to the Soho Playhouse to ensure that I'd stop blogging for an evening and get this thing watched.

Glad he did, because Droege's tour de farce is a breathlessly funny meditation on oxygen-sucking, fortysomething gays who love black women for their attitude but spend all their time avoiding them at boozy, coked-up Palm Springs gatherings, where  it's open season on everyone not in the room.

“Stop! I'm fine.”

In this case, a gaggle gays — only Droege's Gerry is actually onstage, meaning he has to speak convincingly and with believable timing to invisible characters — are entombed in a Palm Springs holding facility (someone's house) prior to attending the rehearsal dinner and eventually the wedding of two pals, Josh and the odious Brennan, who is Gerry's nemesis, a man described as having an ottoman-like personality. Gerry takes several verbal seats on Brennan in absentia, but also swipes at his ex, Dwayne, and his ex's ex Nick, all the while attempting to school Dwayne's new young squeeze Mack on who the hell Dana Delany was. Is.

When Mack slips away, Gerry's face contorts into a combination of smugness, judgment and jealousy as he coos, “I'm just saying, there is an entire Abigail Breslin between him and us.”

Is it a coincidence that the hated Brennan's sister is also a Shannon?

Droege's character Gerry is that proudly messy queen you love for his pop culture supremacy (dropping references to Shannon Elizabeth and Olympia Dukakis within the space of a few sentences), and who at the same time makes you wonder, “Why do I keep inviting this person ... anywhere?”

I died when Droege referenced It's Cool in the Furnace, an Evangelical play my public school put on in the '70s!

The secret to the show's success is that as overbearing and damaged as Gerry is, he's also a queen with a sliver of self-awareness and more than his fair share of loneliness, and Droege does a beautiful job of teasing that out, making it clear he'd be as effective in a dramatic role as in the broadly funny stuff he's known for on stage and 'Tube. Gerry also makes a fascinating case for those who are of course happy that gay marriage is legal but who of course would never want to get married or do anything else they perceived as aping straight norms.

Scene-Steeler

Deep points like this are made in surprising ways, such as the source of the show's title — the wedding invitation they've all received has asked guests to refrain from wearing bright colors and bold patterns. When gay men are allowing that to be a part of the invite, what's the point of being married at all? Or rather, what's the point of being gay?

If you're interested in the show, get tickets now, before Drew expires — I'm telling you, I do not know how he does 80 minutes of this nightly.