Jon Bennett: Fire in the Meth Lab at Fringe

Jon Bennett from Melbourne Australia wrote a play about his brother called Fire in the Meth Lab. His brother is in jail and in various letters he warned his brother not to write the show. In general this on man show was a coming of age story. We all have had siblings who acted like bullies. His brother was a life long bully. He showed us a clip from the Wonder Years, a TV show in which most people identify with the young boy Kevin. His brother identified with that young boys jerk of an older brother, Wayne. The older brother is picking up the younger brother after a date. Each time the younger brother reaches for the car door his jerk of a brother pulls away. The date watches the nonsense and the lad is mortified.

Jon’s brother did far worse, like sticking his dick in his brother’s ear. I can’t imagine. Things got silly when Jon shared clips from his brothers favorite pop star.  It was some Australian singer and the lyrics left little impression. He read some cards from the pop starts board trivia game and the answers were obscure and impossible to guess. Only a rabid fan might have a chance.

Things got serious when his brother decided to start a meth lab. A fire broke out and rather than leave the product to burn, his brother went in to save the meth. He then drove away before police arrived. When he was later picked up the police ordered him to get out of the car. He couldn’t. He had third degree burns and his flesh had melted onto the car seat effectively gluing him in.

Jon lost his pet dog and then befriended a dog down the street. He felt so close to this dog , that he decided to take him home. On that trek, a neighbors dog barked violently. He turned to the dog at his side and barked as well, in his mind saying “It is us against the world.” The dog misinterpreted his barking and lunged for his face, violently biting him and intending to kill. he woke up in a hospital bet with multiple stitches, deeply wounded. The dog was put down. Only much later did he learn that his brother had followed him on that day and saved his life from the attacking dog. His brother might have treated him like a jerk most of his life, but in the end brothers stick up for each other.