Primetime Festival Review: Djinn Joint

Djerald Djinn is a disillusioned genie cracking under the pressure of his million wishes quota. On the surface, it’s a charming premise for a show, but it’s the conflict between wanting to please people and be accepted, and the frustration of the magical Black man trope that makes the show compelling.

Created and performed by Velvet Wells, his Djinn character recruits willing audience members to share their wishes and partake in a magical senate of sorts to help determine whether those wishes should be granted. After all, wishes can sometimes be destructive and malevolent, and is probably best to be decided by more of a consensus kind of situation. 

My only quibble with it all wasn’t so much the show or the content, but learning to navigate gather.town and pay attention to what was happening. At the risk of dating myself, I felt like a kid again learning to play the first edition of Zelda when Mario Bros. made more sense. Though gather.town isn’t difficult to use, the early 1990s graphics were distracting. The overall aesthetic was distracting in every way for me, and that muted the thoughtful and necessary (sub)text about Black men in pop culture. 

Even though I wasn’t a fan of gather.town and found its interface distracting from fully hearing Wells’ essential voice, it was still a delight to see the different ways that companies and artists are exploring virtual spaces. Next time, I want to hear all of what Wells has to say loud and clear! 

Djinn Joint is on now as part of the Toronto Fringe’s Primetime Festival.
The remaining performances are November 13, 20 and 28, 2021.
Get your tickets here.