Charlie Ross is strong in the force.
He can master the art of lightsaber fighting, rescue a princess and destroy an orbital battle station all in the span of an hour.
But he doesn’t stop there. He knows heroes don’t rest on their laurels and in another hour Ross saves Middle Earth by vanquishing the armies of Mordor and destroys the One Ring.
The actor who speaks the language of geeks comes to Nanaimo to perform his two shows, the One-Man Star Wars Trilogy and One-Man Lord of the Rings, this weekend.
More than 10 years ago Ross took his knowledge of the Star Wars films and created a sketch comedy routine, which became the basis for his Star Wars Trilogy play and he used all three books to create the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
“It’s funny how something that was just wasting a lot of time has turned into something lucrative,” said Ross.
He has performed around the globe, having performed the One-Man Star Wars Trilogy in more than 180 cities on four continents.
Audience members have to use their imaginations and rely on Ross’ acting skills.
He performs in black pants and a shirt with no props onstage.
Ross said when he condensed the films into a script he had to make huge editorial jumps.
He used one scene to anchor the story where he cut out huge swaths of the script. Sometimes a character will just have one or two lines from the story to tie it all together.
“It’s like retelling your favourite part of a story to somebody,” said Ross.
Fans of the film are a treat to perform for.
“It’s fantastic. They are the most positive part,” he said.
Ross said on any given night there are about a dozen people who really, really know the lore of the Lord of the Rings.
The One Man Lord of the Rings is Saturday (March 16) at 8 p.m. and the One Man Star Wars Trilogy is Sunday (March 17) at 2 p.m.
Both shows are in the Shaw Auditorium at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
Advance tickets are $25 or $45 for both shows and are available online at www.fringetastic.com or $35 per show at the door.
For more information on Ross and his shows please go to www.onemanstarwars.com.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com