Pianist, singer and composer is keyed in to current events

Ronald Reagan was president when David Scheel created “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player” — but the Australian comedian and pianist said he has no trouble keeping the show fresh.

“I watch TV, read the newspapers, and watch the Internet,” said Scheel, who brings the show to the Manitou Art Theater today and Saturday. “Somebody is going to do something silly every single day.

“If a politician makes a gaffe on Monday, it’s in my show on Tuesday.”

But there’s a lot more to Scheel’s show than current events.

He’s been compared to Victor Borge, the late, great Danish comedian and pianist who also had a gift for affectionately sending up classical music.

Scheel’s bag of tricks includes simultaneously playing Bach and Andrew Lloyd Webber; a comic translation of the Australian classic “Waltzing Matilda”; and a folk tune in the styles of various old masters.

And for those who aren’t versed in classical music, Scheel makes the show user-friendly.

“A lot of people come who don’t have a background in classical music,” said Scheel. “They just want a good laugh. And I explain things — if they don’t know a composer, in two minutes they’ll know why I’m talking about him.”

One recent addition to the show highlights Scheel’s improvisational skills. He asks the audience for something — an idea or mood — from which he creates a Schubert-like Impromptu.

The suggestions are often unexpected, he said — sometimes weirdly so.

One recent suggestion was “driving from Boston to Miami while suffering from PMS.”

Said Scheel, with a master storyteller’s deadpan delivery: “That wasn’t easy.”

The Manitou Art
Theater presents
David Scheel in
“Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player”

When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday

Where: Manitou Art Theater, 1367 Pecan St., Colorado Springs

Tickets: $20;
685-4729