Literary festival ends on a high note with Edgerton and Craver's performance

Clyde Edgerton and Mike Craver’s conclusion of the N.C. Literary Festival left the audience members with smiles on their faces and humming some of the show’s tunes.

The duo walked on stage at 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon in Memorial Hall, readied their instruments and jumped into a jovial performance of “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam.”

Through a lighthearted combination of literary and performance arts, the two acted out Edgerton’s novel, “The Bible Salesman.”

Edgerton read excerpts from his book and exhibited his musical talent by singing and playing the banjo and trumpet. Craver also supported the storytelling with song interludes and provided the voice of the naïve Bible salesman of the story, Henry Dampier.

Both utilized a variety of hats to add to their characterizations.

Dampier’s crooked story could loosely be classified as a romantic comedy or a coming-of-age tale.

But the plot was hardly what earned the performance a standing ovation.

The irony from within the text, tonal inputs from Craver on the keyboard and sharp depictions from both men kept the audience chuckling at a minimum throughout.

The story began with Dampier interacting with his neighbor’s talking cats with Bible-based names and matching characteristics; Judas is suicidal, and Zaccheus is short-legged.

Dampier is sheltered, but well-intentioned.

“I read the Bible,” Dampier said, in response to a question about his hobbies.

He needed a means of transportation and he believed the Great Lord must have been looking out for him when he met Preston Clearwater, who said he needed a driver for his undercover work to exploit carjackers.

But while Dampier thought Clearwater was doing work for the government, he was really picking up his money for cars he had stolen and killing old ladies.

Dampier’s amoral partner in crime, eccentric potential customers, vulgar uncle and a “kinda pretty” big-boned blonde gradually bring him out of his comfort zone.

North Carolina cities, including Pinehurst and Winston-Salem, and accurate accents brought the nationally recognized novel close to home for the North Carolinian audience.

The two men played off each other verbally and musically, providing a simple and fluid performance. Playful religious pokes throughout kept the audience laughing and possibly thinking critically about the Bible.

The last keynote gave festival participants a different flavored last course to the weekend.


Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.