The cult film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is most likely the first thing many think of when discussing the hedonistic oasis in the Nevada desert. While the reference may bother some Vegas residents, Ernest Hemmings excitedly embraces it, especially when it comes to his one-man comedy show Everyone Loves Dick (The Authorized Biography of Dick Ripper).
"It'd be hard to write a Vegas story and have people not come away with that unless it's a bad Vegas story, because Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas couldn't be more accurate," Hemmings tells Pittsburgh City Paper.
Hemmings will appear at Arcade Comedy Theater on Thu., March 14 to act out the over-the-top antics of his persona, Dick Ripper, a Vegas used car salesman defined by a cheetah-print cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses. A synopsis describes the one-act show as a “lysergic modern Western” that “takes the audience on an unhinged and wild ride through the Las Vegas streets, into a prison break, and off to a late-night rendezvous with hubris.”
Everyone Loves Dick premiered at the Las Vegas Theatre Company and, over the last year, has been on a nationwide tour, stopping at cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco, and Joshua Tree.
The show marks Hemmings’ return to western Pa. He grew up in Erie and, over 10 years ago, performed in Pittsburgh at what used to be The Shop in Bloomfield.
As he recalls, his journey out west from the Rust Belt was marked by self-destruction. He recalls how, in his younger days, he was living and doing sketch comedy in Cleveland, Ohio and, while going through a difficult divorce, developed a "weird death wish."
"When you're in your 20s, your ego's 50 million feet high and very fragile," he says. "And I was like, I'm just gonna go in the desert and drink myself to death like Bukowski. When you're young, you're just stupid, you know?"
While Vegas has a well-earned reputation for ruining lives, either through unchecked gambling or debauchery, for Hemmings, the city was his saving grace. After packing up his few belongings and boarding a bus to Nevada, his bleak outlook changed.
"And I got here and I just fell in love with this environment," he says. "The burning hot sand everywhere. It was crazy looking. And the purple skies at night took my breath away. And the dollar margaritas at the Prince cover band bar was not a bad thing to run into. And next thing you know, I formed a community here, and 22 years later, I'm like, holy shit, I can't believe I stuck around."
To some degree, Ripper, whose origins involve an LSD-and-beer-fueled departure from "a sleepy trailer park" in Lubbock, Texas, mirrors Hemming's own life experience.
"My friend called me up and said, 'Hey, come on over. I can shoot some video. We'll just make some stuff up,'" says Hemmings. "I had the cowboy hat and this stupid jacket. I was like, alright, well, now I'm a car salesman, and started doing this whole character. And then the next thing I know, it just kind of took a life of its own. And so now, it's this hour and 15-minute show of just this man, Dick Ripper, and his exploits."
Hemmings reveals that, after a year of performing as the outrageous persona, Ripper will be "put to bed" after the tour concludes in San Francisco. As Everyone Loves Dick comes to a close, Hemmings believes the show demonstrates what makes Vegas such a fascinating town.
"The fact that [the Vegas Strip] has been the heart and lifeline of this town for so long, it's what attracted me to this place, just because it doesn't have any real industry here," Hemmings says. "You know, Pennsylvania at least has — well, used to have — steel and whatnot ... But Vegas was just fueled on imagination and greed. And I was like, wow, this seems like a place for an artist to hang out."
Everyone Loves Dick (The Authorized Biography of Dick Ripper). 8 p.m. Thu., March 14. Arcade Comedy Theater. 943 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $15. arcadecomedytheater.com
