Wilson Dixon Rides Again

Despite there only being one Stetson in the room, Wilson Dixon’s audience of mostly middle-aged couples and boisterous young men gives this fake Country and Western show the veneer of reality. You could even be forgiven for thinking that this well drawn character is the real deal as Jesse Griffen is clearly comfortable in his alter ego’s snakeskin boots.

The bulk of the show is comprised—as is the character himself—of a resigned and melancholy musical treatment of stereotypical country themes: life, love, home and hurt. When not strumming away, Dixon produces perfectly formed bitter-sweet reminisces on a beautifully constructed back story. The combination creates an image approximating a less subtle version of a Cohen Brother’s creation, a very askance look at a now global cliché.

However, the musical structure of the show often lets it down as many an in-song joke is clearly signposted by rhythm. The time signature of straight line, straight line, punch-line provides a pleasant but predictable framework; a flaw which often strips much of the non-musical humour of its bite due to Dixon’s commendable attention to cowboy cadence.

Nevertheless, it is the commitment to character and a strong talent for story-telling that pulls this show through. This comes to the fore in the last twenty minutes as Dixon works his way through the subplot from The Man With No Name, a classic story told in great comic detail.

The enthralling spell is only broken when Griffen thanks the audience in his native Aussie, a distinct shock after an enjoyable evening with one of Colorado’s funniest.