Knock Out

Before I preview Bootstraps Comedy Theater's current production, I should disclose one particular facet of my taste in comedy: I never find cross-dressing humor funny. Too many plot gimmicks and cheap sight gags, I guess. For all the laughs I got, the last performance I saw of Twelfth Night may as well have been White Girls. I may not be the target audience for Matt Lyle's The Boxer, but its three DFW Critics Forum awards prove my prejudice isn't universal. Set in the Depression, the one-act stars Kim Lyle as a woman who dresses up as a man to find work and, through a series of slapstick mishaps, ends up managing a boxer (Jeff Swearingen). Staged like a silent film complete with live piano, the production pays homage to early comedy pioneers like Chaplin and Keaton. Performances are 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through December 2 at Robyn Flatt Studio Theater in the Rosewood Center for Family Arts, 5938 Skillman St. Tickets are $15, $12 for students and seniors. Visit bootstrapscomedy.com for tickets and preview clips.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: Nov. 23. Continues through Dec. 2, 2007