DEC. 10-15

Unquestionably, the most human character in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was the two-dimensional title bunny. This is a testament to the prodigious vocal talents of Roger’s 3-D counterpart, Charles Fleischer. The actor and stand-up comedian brought so much life to the audio role that the onscreen human actors seemed almost fake in comparison. But what makes the D.C.-born Fleischer especially fascinating is that he is also an exceptional visual performer. In concert, he roils his face through dozens of distortions and contortions per second, while his body darts, lumbers, or careens across the stage and throughout the theater in frantic quest for comic connections between the most obtuse of observations. Having seen them both onstage at the L.A. Improv, I can attest that Fleischer out-manics Robin Williams by a length. Like that other rabbit, the battery bunny, Fleischer just keeps going—in fact, he is renowned for not leaving the stage once his show is ostensibly over. But the stage is not enough for polymath Fleischer to expend his energy. An early adopter of the Internet, Fleischer developed Monkeydog.com to showcase his interest in “poetry, mathematics, music, and art.” His insanely complex, crazy-quilt computer-generated visions called “Moleeds” used to be there; now you can find an “insult engine,” which can amusingly hurt feelings in modern, Shakespearean, and/or street idioms, and in PG and adults-only format. And then he still finds time to jam with Blues Traveler on harmonica. Fleischer will stand up but not stand still at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10 to Thursday, Dec. 12, and Sunday, Dec. 15; and at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Improv, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW. $15-$17. (202) 296-7008. (Dave Nuttycombe)