Philadelphia Weekly

"Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush? "

--Hunter S. Thompson, Kingdom of Fear

Strong words indeed, but the late, great Hunter S. Thompson was never a man to mince words, never afraid to call a dishonest shithead a dishonest shithead. And in these days of mendacious dupes, scum-sucking half-wits and a piss-poor excuse for an opposition party, we need people like Thompson more than ever. People unafraid to kick and scream against the pricks with eloquent rage and a healthy dose of caustic wit thrown in for good measure. Which is where Ed Hamell--aka Hamell on Trial--comes in.

"Philosophically, in light of the current administration and all the shit that's been going on, it's pretty ripe for this kind of show," says Hamell of his snappily titled The Terrorism of Everyday Life, which he's bringing to the Tin Angel for a weekly residency throughout June before heading off to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival.

The show's title seems pretty self-explanatory in light of current events.

"Oh, God yeah!" Hamell laughs. "You couldn't make this shit up. Speaking of which, I was listening to the Republican debates just the other night and I heard one of the candidates attacking Congress and he said something like, 'Congress has been spending money like John Edwards in a beauty shop.' And I thought, in terms of total insidiousness, it was brilliant. He was alluding not only to the amount of money spent, but casting doubts on [Edwards'] sexuality. They really know how to spin this fuckin' shit, you know? It drives me insane."

The Terrorism of Everyday Life, according to Hamell, promises a more theatrical approach to the conventional gig.

"My usual shows are about 80 percent music with 20 percent open for spontaneity. This one's gonna have less music and more dialogue. Not incredibly dissimilar to what I've done before, but more direct. It's gonna have a beginning, a middle and an end."

For those unfamiliar, Hamell is Bill Hicks, Hunter S. Thompson and Joe Strummer all rolled into one sweaty, snarling, pugnacious pitbull of a man. Someone who, more impressively, achieves the hitherto impossible feat of making one guy with an acoustic guitar seem like the last word in total rock 'n' roll. Oh, and he's scabrously, filthily, twistedly funny.

Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to one of Hamell's enduring frustrations--namely, how do you describe what he does onstage? And more important, how do you sell it to the unsold masses?

"Oh man," he sighs. "That's always the problem. Although it's good you asked me, 'cause I have to come up with a press release for my new management [Invasion Group, the late Bill Hicks' management]. I dunno. I'd sell it as 'alternative theater,' I guess. I didn't set out to be idiosyncratic. I've never quite figured it out."

There's a pause, a sigh and then laughter.

"You know, it's always weird talking to people from outside this country--like yourself--'cause they actually know my stuff. But here it's like, 'Well, if you're not Modest fucking Mouse, I don't really know who the fuck you are."

Hamell on Trial

Every Wed., 8:30pm. $10. Through June 20. Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St. 215.928.0770. www.tinangel.com