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Lynn Manning was blinded in a bar shooting at 23, but even before that he was carrying some heavy baggage. Raised by an alcoholic mother in South Central Los Angeles, he had a budding career as a petty criminal when he developed an intense desire to be a painter, along with a terrible fear of going blind. In Weights, his autobiographical solo performance, Manning revels in his refusal to become a victim. When a "career counselor" offered him employment as a peanut vendor, he notes that it felt "awfully close to being offered my own shoe-shine stand." He also observes that "the white cane is a magnet for religious weirdos of every persuasion." Manning, a former judo champion, demonstrates some martial arts moves, but it's his witty, earnest, relentlessly self-revealing voice that carries the most weight. Fri-Sat 4/21-4/22, 7:30 PM, Museum of Contemporary Art, theater, 220 E. Chicago, 312-397-4010, $22; postshow discussion Friday.
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