For clients of unique taste. Dillard and Fullerton's Elusive and Illogical traveling show is the twelfth largest touring circus in North America. The main attraction of this show of the grotesque and unusual are a pair of conjoined twins: Evelyn Evelyn. Like all of us, they dream of being more then just sideshow pass-arounds. “I want to be famous, they are watching us anyway...” sings Evelyn.
A haunting and darkly funny gothic story. It is a concept album that captures the feel of the weird films I used to watch as a kid at 2 AM through sleepy eyes. I was never sure how much of the film was real or just me dreaming. Imagine Betty Davis joined to herself in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” and starring in a postmodern cabaret musical by Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley. This is a black and white carnival at midnight filled with whispers and wind.
Ladies and gentleman, critics and hipsters
Have you heard the new disc by the Evelyn sisters?
Seamlessly floating with grace between eras and genres
They sing timeless songs ripe with double entendres.
My favorite song is the Clockwork Orange version of a vaudeville: “Have you Seen my Sister, Evelyn?” a laundry list of who is doing Evelyn. “Elephant Elephant” is a goofy children’s song about Bimba and Kimba, the world’s only known conjoined twin Siamese elephants. Sadly, the elephants die of premature Alzheimer's (there is nothing sadder than seeing an elephant forget.) The funeral was a grisly affair at an industrial trash compactor behind a Home Depot. This is just like the ending of the Velveteen rabbit, isn’t it?
“You Only Want Me ‘Cause You Want My Sister” is certainly the best country song I have ever heard about dating conjoined sisters.
If you think you are seeing double
Let me save you some trouble
This ain’t no two-for-one bargain here, Mister
Cause I’m much more than just quite shy
I’ve had enough of two timin’ guys
Who only want me ‘cause they want my twins.
The other songs are moody and disturbing like an old time radio drama from an unknown station. This could just be a throw away collection of silly songs. But even as a I laugh, an uneasy feeling came over me. All the put-ons disguise what I think the girls were really getting at: I (and any sympathetic listener) is as much a freak as Evelyn Evelyn in our own private circus. It is the joke behind the jokes -- and a very haunting joke at that. After all, we want to be famous, they are watching us anyway... And that’s enough circus for anyone.
Video for “You Only Want Me ‘Cause You Want My Sister”
“You Only Want Me ‘Cause You Want My Sister”
You pulled up at the house at half past seven
In your '69 Impala
You shook hands with my father
And we stopped off at the drug store by the drive-in
For some Trojans and a six-pack
But still your eyes kept wandering back to her
It's always her
So let's get one thing straightened out here, sir.
( Chorus: )
If you think you're seeing double,
Let me save you some trouble.
This ain't no two-for-one bargain here, mister.
Cause I’m much more than just quite shy
Had enough of two-timing guys
Who only want me 'cause they want my sister.
My eyes are just as blue as her's
My hair is just as fine,
And that tattoo on her lower back
Is exactly just like mine.
But if you look beneath the surface,
We're as different as can be
'cause there's just one heart that beats for you
And that heart belongs to me
And not to her,
It's always her.
So let's get one thing straight about your girl.
(repeat chorus)
Hooo-ooooo...!
And if tomorrow you should die
My sister would not bat an eye,
She doesn't even know your name
She's going with some other guy.
As long as she is still around
I'll always have a trace of doubt
I need to know your love is real, but how?
We're all dressed up
The flowers sure are pretty
Mother pays her last respects
I look around, no one suspects
That it was me
Who put the Drain-O in her coffee.
Now that she is underground
I'll know that you’re not hanging 'round for her,
No, not for her.
Now I’ll know your love is true for sure.
(chorus)
It pains my heart to think of her
A rotting, stinking, maggot-infested bloated and puss oozing corpse beneath the earth
You can’t imaging how much I miss her.
But now I know you want me and not my sister.
Have You Seen My Sister, Evelyn?
Have you seen my sister, Evelyn?
Dang, she’s gone and wandered off again!
I've been lookin’ high and low,
Where oh where’d my sister go?
She's been known to spend some time
With a sailor friend of mine.
I called him up and what'd he say?
"I ain't seen that girl today!"
So if you see my sister Evelyn,
Tell that girl to hurry home again!
Where oh where’d my sister Evelyn go?
Is she with the doctor? Or the plumber?
Or the dentist? Or the handyman?
Did she go to India? Or Africa?
Or Wichita? Or Pakistan?
Did she go and join the navy?
Or go completely crazy?
Or is she playin’ a trick on me?
Did she run off with the farmer? Or the professor?
Or the banker? Or the clergyman?
Is it possible that she could be in Timbuktu Or Canada?
Or Vegas? Or Pakistani?
Is she learning how to do, do
The Chattanooga Choo-Choo?
Oh, golly, where could that girl be?
Have you seen my sister, Evelyn?
Dang, she’d gone and wandered off again!
I’ve been lookin’ high and low,
Where oh where’d my sister go?
She’s been known to jump a train
with a gal we know from down the lane.
I looked her up and what’d she say?
“I ain’t seen that girl in days!”
So if you see my sister Evelyn,
Tell that girl to hurry home again!
Where oh where’d my sister Evelyn go?
Is my floozy sister with the doctor? Or the drummer?
Or the dentist? Or the handyman?
Did that ho bag quit her job and run off with that dickhead, Mike to
India? Or Potanawa?
Or Panama? Or Disneyland?
Is she studyin’ Kabala? Did she win a million dollars?
Or is she dead in a ditch somewhere?
So if you see my sister Evelyn,
Tell that girl to hurry home again!
Where oh where,
Where oh where,
Where oh where,
Where oh where,
Where oh where’d my sister Evelyn go?
The story behind "Evelyn Evelyn” - by Amanda Palmer
The twins are about to embark on their first tour, hitting the road in Canada and the US later this Spring.
"EVELYN AND EVELYN" US Tour Dates
04/12: Cambridge, MA @ Oberon
04/13: Cambridge, MA @ Oberon
05/17: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
05/19: Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
05/20: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
05/22: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
05/23: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
05/25: Los Angeles, CA @ Largo at the Coronet
05/26: Los Angeles, CA @ Largo at the Coronet
05/27: Los Angeles, CA @ Largo at the Coronet
06/01: Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
06/02: Chicago, IL @ Park West
06/04: Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
06/05: Montreal, QC @ Theatre Corona
06/08: New York, NY @ Lucille Lortel Theatre *
06/09: New York, NY @ Lucille Lortel Theatre *
06/10: New York, NY @ Lucille Lortel Theatre *
06/11: New York, NY @ Lucille Lortel Theatre *
06/12: New York, NY @ Lucille Lortel Theatre *
06/13: New York, NY @ Lucille Lortel Theatre *
06/17: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
06/18: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
* = Soho Rep. presents, By Special Arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation: Evelyn Evelyn
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