"It's like Shakespeare... Kind of."
— Juicy
Fat Ham is a dramedy play written by James Ijames.
A modern retelling of Hamlet, the play centers on Juicy, a closeted gay black college student. At a family barbecue that doubles as both a wake for his late father Pap and the marriage for his mother Tedra and uncle Rev, Juicy is confronted by his father's ghost. Pal claims that Rev had him murdered, and demands Juicy kill him in revenge. Juicy, familiar with the play, struggles with whether to carry out the act or not or if he can break out of his family's generational trauma.
List of tropes applying to this play:
- Abusive Parents:
- Pap constantly bullied and best Juicy over nothing, and despised him for his non-traditionally masculine behavior. He was eventually sent to prison for killing a man in front of Juicy, who was still a child at the time.
- Rev doesn't treat Juicy any better. He spends all of Juicy's tuition money on getting a bath mat for himself, bullies him for being "soft", and punches him in the stomach at one point for annoying him.
- Tedra genuinely loves Juicy and feels guilty about Rev stealing his tuition, but she's so desperate to have someone love her that she's willing to stay with Rev no matter how unhappy or makes him. She also dismisses his complaints and victim-blames him for annoying Rev.
- Downplayed with Rabby. She's a loving mother, but she forces her children on set career paths and refuses to acknowledge what they actually want.
- Armored Closet Gay:
- Larry is secretly gay and has a crush on Juicy. Juicy, in a form of rage, outs him to his family.
- His sister Opal is gay as well, but hides it from her family. She confesses towards the end, and Rabby accepts them both.
- Asshole Victim: Pap was killed in prison by another convict, but no one's particularly sad since he was an abusive Jerkass and murderer. That said, everyone is still horrified when Rev confesses to having hired the man to murder him.
- Black Comedy: While most of the play's darker moments are played seriously, Rev choking to death on a piece of hot dog bun and everyone's inlet attempts to save him is Played for Laughs.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: All of the characters are aware they're in a play and frequently address the audience.
- Butt-Monkey: Juicy goes through a lot of physical and verbal abuse throughout the play, some of which is Played for Laughs and some Played for Drama.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Tio, whom is admittedly on drugs for most of the play. He openly and loudly watches porns, fantasizes about being a porn star, and goes off on a long diatribe about hallucinating getting a fellatio from a gingerbread man.
- Deadpan Snarker: Juicy is quite prone to sarcastic remarks.
- Death as Comedy: Rev choking to death is Played for Laughs.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Rev dies from choking to death, Juicy and Larry make up and get together, and everyone becomes honest with each other and are free to pursue their dreams.
- Evil Uncle: Rev, Juicy's uncle, is a vile, abusive man. Juicy's father wasn't much better while he was alive, though.
- Faux Affably Evil: Rev is cheerful, friendly, and religious. It all belies the fact that he's a deeply selfish, abusive man who only cares about himself. Not only that, but he really did have Pap killed to have Tedra all to himself.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Pap mentions that his and Rev's father was abusive just like they are in the present day, but as Tio states later on it was they still could have broken the cycle of violence on their own.
- Hidden Depths: Almost everyone is revealed to have them.
- Tio is a weird stoner, but he's also quite emotionally mature and has quite profound views on generational trauma.
- Tough Marine Larry is an Armored Closet Gay and envies Juicy's softness.
- Juicy can be just as cruel and emotionally abusive as Rev and Pap.
- Tedra is desperately afraid of being alone, which is why she keeps marrying abusive men.
- Opal is a lesbian and wants to open up a shooting range.
- Rabby used to be a stripper.
- Holier Than Thou: Rabby and Rev are both self-righteous Bible-thumpers who view their religiousness as a right to judge others. Rabby overcomes this, while Rev doesn't.
- Jerkass:
- Pap was a violent, short-tempered man who abused both Juicy and Tedra while he was alive. He also murdered a man merely for having bad breath, which is what caused him to be sent to prison in the first place.
- Rev, beneath his friendly exterior, is just as vile as his brother. He repeatedly humiliates and insults Juicy, not to mention having had Pap killed.
- Laughably Evil: Pap is a vile man, but his stupidity and ineptitude at being a ghost make him quite funny as well.
- Nice Guy: Larry is always polite and friendly.
- Sinister Minister: Rev is a preacher, and is a vicious abuser beneath his friendly demeanor.
- Wicked Stepfather: Rev, though Pap wasn't much better.
