Jack O’Shea: The Saga Begins, Hairy Calahan Productions, at the Breadline Theatre. “You see some crazy things on the street,” confides the hard-boiled cop in this James Cook comedy–which also confirms that crazy things can be seen in late-night theater. But it’s the audacious nonsense in this loosely plotted Jack O’Shea installment that makes the show work. O’Shea is an alcoholic with an anger management problem. You know this isn’t going to be the typical police detective tale when he addresses the audience in conventional gumshoe fashion but with booze in hand, no pants (they’ve been stolen by prostitutes), and his gun still smoking from shooting a dog. There’s also a crime lord with a Gary Numan cover band, a secret-agent gorilla who becomes a crack whore, and a lecherous police captain who can’t keep his pants on either.
