** (out of ****)
It's the end of the world as we know, and Colin Quinn for one most definitely doesn't feel fine.
In fact, in this incredibly brief 75-minute so-called "history of the world," a very somber Quinn effectively uses symmetry to prove that civilization's downfall really is all Greek to him. Seriously. As if channeling philosopher George Santanaya, Quinn seeks to remind his audience that "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it."
In Colin Quinn: Long Story Short, the SNL alum offers a PowerPoint dirge on the world's greatest civilations, examining the Achilles' heels contributing to their seemingly inevitable decline. And you'll never guess which super power's turn at the downward swing it ultimately is in this cautionary comic stand.
As if the message weren't enough of a downer, Quinn does himself few favors by failing to connect with his audience. Rather than engage members directly (and the Playbill comes with a warning not to catcall), Quinn keeps his eyes focused somewhere in the middle of the theatre as if there's invisible cue cards to be found. One wonders where Jerry Seinfeld was, since it seems clear he wasn't really providing any meaningful direction.
That's not to say that there isn't smart humor, and sometimes profound at that, to be found in this extended, stand-up comedy routine. Quinn lands many decent laughs. But more often than not, Quinn is much too serious in imploring his audience to wake up with a clarion call all his own.
Long Story Short? Colin Quinn's biting comedy would be outright hilarious if it weren't so sad.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
Labels: Broadway, Colin Quinn, Comedy, Jerry Seinfeld, Long Story Short, One Man Show, Standup Comedy, The SOB Review
Pee-Wee Herman's Playful Commercial
Never underestimate the power of reliving your childhood -- or early adulthood for that matter.
The upcoming Broadway production of
is clearly awakening and energizing
Paul Reubens' legions of long dormant, yet ever-adoring fans. As my
current SOB Poll indicates, there's an outpouring of support for his beloved Pee-wee Herman personality. It's quite possible that Reubens' Great White Way debut will attract audiences that have never before seen a Broadway show.
Now, today's secret word (or is that weapon?) is:
commercial.
A short and simple new ad
has been unveiled for
The Pee-Wee Herman Show. As a fan of the 80s television program, I'm thrilled to see that this glimpse into the stage show looks consistent with what captured our attention and admiration over a generation ago. Heh-heh!
Previews for
The Pee-Wee Herman Show start October 26 at the newly renamed
Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Opening on November 11, the very limited engagement closes on January 2, 2011.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Broadway, Comedy, Paul Reubens, Revue, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, Trailer
Long Story Short, Colin Quinn Is Broadway-BoundSo there I was, clicking through
Telecharge last evening when I saw that
Colin Quinn's
Long Story Short -- the comedian's one-man show directed by
Jerry Seinfeld -- had
tickets on sale for his
return to Broadway's
Helen Hayes Theatre beginning October 22. I immediately
tweeted about it last night.
The official
site for the show indicates that this limited engagement will run 11 weeks through January 8, 2011. The site
describes the show as follows:
Comically channeling the demise of every great world empire, Colin Quinn (SNL) takes the audience through an uproarious history of the world in 75 minutes. From his personification of Caesar as the original Italian mobster to his depiction of the pizza-ordering styles of imperialists and colonialists, Quinn is at his satirical best, taking on the attitudes, appetites and habits that toppled the world’s most powerful nations. Directed by Jerry Seinfeld, Long Story Short proves that throughout human history, the joke has always been on us.
A formal announcement hit right about the time I initially posted this story. This is a transfer of Quinn's recent run from the Bleecker Street Theatre that ended September 4. It marks Jerry Seinfeld's first Broadway credit as a director.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. Labels: Broadway, Colin Quinn, Comedy, First Word On New Show, Jerry Seinfeld, Long Story Short, One Man Show, Standup Comedy
Joan Rivers (The SOB Review) - Pantages Theatre, Minneapolis, Minnesota*** (out of ****)Joan Rivers. Can she talk?
Oh, puhleeze! If you mean can Joan Rivers dish a blue streak with the best of them, then absolutely.
Although she's just a few months shy of the same age as my very own mother (who incidentally, Joan, if you
are reading, she is
not the "B" in the SOB on this site), they may as well have been born in different generations given the tireless entertainer's incredibly filthy, obscene and hilarious mouth.
In her performance at Minneapolis' Pantage Theatre last Wednesday evening, Joan Rivers delivered perhaps
the single most politically incorrect comedy piece I've ever witnessed. And I loved practically every minute of it.
With Rivers, there are no sacred cows, largely because she's slaying and skewering virtually every one imagineable and even things you hold dear right before your eyes. As she boldly grabs the cajones of countless celebrities, no one is safe from her expert carving. Not
Michael Jackson. Not
Tom Cruise. Not
Whitney Houston. Not anyone, although just to hedge her bets a smidge, she often quickly adds that the star she's just mercilessly ridiculed is a good or close friend.
As an equal opportunity offender, Rivers is also quick to turn her own personal foibles and tragedies into comic fodder, whether joking about her humiliating failure as a light night talk host or even the truly devastating death of her beloved husband Edgar.
Thankfully, with all the sacred cows slaughtered so masterfully by this comedic icon, there's no bull s*** for the audience to wade through, only genuine laughs.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Comedy, Joan Rivers, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Standup Comedy, The SOB Review
Did Critics Welcome Ferrell's Final Night?Last evening,
Will Ferrell made his Broadway debut in his limited run show
You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush, which opened at the
Cort Theatre.
Directed by
Adam McKay, Ferrell's show spoofs the eponymous
43rd President. The comedy features
Michael Delaney,
Pia Glenn,
Adam Mucci and
Patrick Ferrell.
Most critics' reviews rolled out the welcome mat for Ferrell with one notable exception.
Praising the show as "a cathartic, almost cleansing farewell,"
David Rooney of
Variety claims that the show never descends into mean-spirited diatribe: "Ferrell delivers what's basically an extended '
SNL' political sketch grafted out of the easiest target in comedy.... [I]t's the kind of incisive 'SNL' sketch we haven't seen much of lately -- a fast-paced, well-sustained near-90 minutes that's consistently funny and invigoratingly rude.... [I]t's in the more fanciful satirical detours that Ferrell soars highest."
Proclaiming "mission accomplished,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News awards four out of five stars: "Getting to see this comic whiz in the flesh is a big treat, and the fact that Ferrell has been able to squeeze so many fresh yuks from the beleaguered Bush legacy speaks to his always off-kilter, sometimes raunchy, imagination.... If some sequences run out of steam, another laugh is looming just around the bend."
Calling Ferrell "terrific -- sly and subtle, even brave,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer offers a critical welcome: "(The show) has arrived right on time for both silly fun and smart summing-up of an epoch the country just voted overwhelmingly to change. Foolish comedy is deftly mixed with tough political satire in what is not, strictly speaking, a solo."
Surprised that "the ex-president turns out to be a hell of a lot of fun to hang with,"
Frank Scheck for
New York Post awards three out of four stars: "Granted, the generally lowbrow humor of
You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush is hardly cutting-edge political satire. Basically a (nearly) solo extended sketch, it's theatrical comfort food for Broadway audiences who want to see one of their favorite comic actors live."
Noting that "Sometimes it’s really funny, and sometimes it sort of sags. I laughed, I yawned,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley offers a mixed assessment comparing it to Ferrell's more middling movies: "[T]he actor provides a critic-proof demonstration of the art that has endeared him to millions of fans around the world: the art of acting stupid, shrewdly, for fun and profit. Some might say that this is a talent shared by the man Mr. Ferrell impersonates. But the George W. Bush of
You’re Welcome America ... is just stupid, without the shrewdness.... Mr. Ferrell’s Bush is less exact imitation than loopy extrapolation. And the show feels freshest when he goes off on surreal tangents that transport his blundering hero into the ether of pure absurdism."
Concluding that "Ferrell's mission ought to have been aborted,"
USA Today's
Elysa Gardner pans the show with one and a half stars out of four: "It's tough to say who should be more offended by
You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush: the 43rd president's most ardent admirers or his most rigorous critics.... No one familiar with Ferrell's work would expect in-depth political satire. He tries instead to provoke through tastelessness and goofy outrageousness, practices that certainly have long and distinguished traditions in comedy. But Ferrell's shots both overreach and fail to sting."
Perhaps to Brantley's point, this very limited run show is critic-proof from the get-go, so it appears that most of them just sat back, relaxed and let 'er roll. I'll be taking in a performance over the next couple of weeks and will let you know if I shared their general enthusiasm.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Adam McKay, Broadway, Comedy, Critics' Capsule, George W. Bush, Revue, Will Ferrell, You're Welcome America. One Final Night With George W Bush
You're Welcome: One Final Opening NightMining the recently departed
U.S. President and his seeming propensity for malapropisms for laughs one final time, film actor and former "
Saturday Night Live" alum
Will Ferrell (or John
W. Ferrell) is opening on Broadway this evening in his limited run show
You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush.
According to the official site, dubbed "
Will Ferrell on Broadway":
It's time for a change in America, but not without a few parting words from the 43rd President of the United States. Don’t miss your chance to discover the man behind the myth, the truth behind the lies, and the logic behind the illogical in the outrageous limited Broadway event.
Staged at Rialto's
Cort Theatre,
You're Welcome America is written by Ferrell, who stars as his most famous impersonation. Helmed by
Adam McKay and choreographed by
Matt Williams, the comedy features
Michael Delaney as Dr. Scott Blumeth,
Pia Glenn as Former Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice,
Adam Mucci as a Pilot, and the lead actor's own sibling
Patrick Ferrell as a Secret Service Operative. Perhaps most intriguing credit of all is the one for
Flying by Foy, which is supplying flying effects.
Ferrell is one of the few SNL actors to receive an Emmy nomination for his work on the late night comedy shows. Certainly, his extraordinary gift for mimicking the mighty no doubt contributed to that distinction.
The big question about tonight's show is whether critics will give 43 a go one more time, or will they wish Ferrell had simply given it a rest. Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Adam McKay, Broadway, Comedy, George W. Bush, Opening Night, Revue, Saturday Night Live, Will Ferrell, You're Welcome America. One Final Night With George W Bush
George Carlin: 1937-2008He may never have trod the boards of Broadway like other comedians, but
George Carlin certainly knew how to command a stage. He also knew how to get himself arrested from one, too.
I was sad to learn that the great comedian died yesterday of heart failure. He was truly one of a kind.
Having grown up in Milwaukee, I certainly knew who Carlin was -- he has been a household name there for 36 years. After all, it was his appearance at Brew City's
Summerfest in 1972 where he was
famously arrested for including the
seven words you can't say on television (or at the time, on a stage in Milwaukee) in his act.
As the very first host of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," Carlin questioned everything from the ingenious to the inane. One of my favorite riffs from
that appearance concerned the color of food:
Why is there no blue food? I can't find blue food - I can't find the flavor of blue! I mean, green is lime; yellow is lemon; orange is orange; red is cherry; what's blue? There's no blue! Oh, they say, "Blueberries!" Uh-uh; blue on the vine, purple on the plate. There's no blue food! Where is the blue food? We want the blue food! Probably bestows immortality! They're keeping it from us!
Years later, as I was riding an escalator at the Las Vegas Airport, who should be standing right in front of me but the affable George Carlin himself. And of all things I could muster to tell him I appreciated, it was that riff on blue food. So generous and kind
and interested was the comedian, that the two of us ended up having a conversation all the way down to the departure gate for my flight.
Almost in spite of those seven infamous words, the man had the capacity for making one think about life and all its mysteries, banalities and indignities with amazing insight and amusing humor.
And even though he may never have found that elusive blue food that could make us immortal, he made us laugh. He will be missed.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Comedy, George Carlin, In Memoriam
Eddie Izzard: Stripped (The SOB Review) - State Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
* (out of ****)Stripped seems like an apt metaphor for this threadbare show that is bereft of articulate, cogent thought I had come to expect from comedian/actor
Eddie Izzard. Also largely missing was the humor.
Certainly, anyone following his act may be led to believe that
Stripped references the lack of transvestitism for which he's made his mark. And there's nary a trace of it given his ringmaster coat and casual jeans appearance.
But
Stripped instead unintentionally comes off as a pseudo-intellectual's desire to have his rambling and often incoherent thoughts -- which he's constantly interrupting
himself, only to ask the audience, "Where was I?" -- taken seriously.
Yes, we get that Izzard does not believe in a higher being. But to make this the basis for most of his long, two-plus hour rant is hardly entertaining (although he does have one funny bit about Noah's ark).
I found myself fixated on what little real movement there was on the stage. It came from a set design that included a window to the skies. I sat and watched the sun morph into a black hole that turned into a moon. Sadly, it was as if the world was passing me by, and I wasn't laughing.
Unfortunately, that black hole had me feeling truly trapped during an appallingly unpolished performance. In the end, the only thing I felt stripped of was the money I paid to sit through this tedious slog.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Comedy, Eddie Izzard, Minneapolis/St. Paul, The SOB Review, Touring Production
The Flight Of The Conchords (The SOB Review) - Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
** (out of ****)If you're a regular reader, you'll know that I'm not one to see much in the way of television. But when I find a show that truly resonates with me, I try my best to watch it religiously.
Such is that case for one of my more recent favorite television discoveries,
HBO's inspired "
The Flight Of The Conchords" series that stars New Zealand's "fourth most popular folk parody duo"
Jemaine Clement and
Bret McKenzie as the
eponymous band making their way in New York (the other night during their 2+ hour performance in Minneapolis, I learned that even a duo can be called a band -- after all, even a solitary person can be a "one-man band").
Like a great Gotham musical, each half hour episode offers a perfect blend of comedy that ingeniously segues into Jermaine and/or Bret breaking into song. Their ironic sense of humor and timing is captured in a truly brilliant and entertaining fashion.
What made the show even more appealing to a theatregoer like me was that it offered my first real opportunity to see Broadway actress
Sutton Foster perform (until
Young Frankenstein, I had been
zero for three in my repeated attempts to see her on the Great White Way) -- and as Coko, Foster offers an egalitarian performance sans any trace of glamor that you'd swear she checked her ego at the door. I've also enjoyed the FOTC's superfan Mel (
Kristen Schaal, now a regular on "
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"), who singlehandedly underscores how at its etymological root, "fan" was most definitely derived from "fanatic."
Oh that seeing this dimeric duo in person would take me away. Instead, I learned that these latter-day not-ready-for-primetime-players' material is much better suited toward television.
Instead of soaring,
The Flight Of The Conchords actually came perilously close to crashing and burning during their gig that mixed their satirical set of songs with often labored interstitial comedy bits. In fact, at one point, Brit even said, "I think we've been derailed" when they virtually lost control of their show to a considerable slice of the audience. Much to my horror and chagrin, somehow, members of the crowd began to think they were part of the performance. Instead of ignoring the obnoxious and even belligerent cat calls, the duo's improvised response only seemed to encourage more of the same.
Yes, some of their reactions were indeed funny, particularly after one female fan yelled, "I want to marry you" to which Jermaine and Brit mused about the potential for marrying the entire audience. However, they had tremendous difficulty getting back on track. It didn't help matters that the duo kept dropping almost everything from their set list to musical instruments, as well as Brit knocking over his microphone into the front-row. The unfortunate effect was that they seemed ill-prepared to cope with this Minneapolis mob. And make no mistake, that's exactly what
The Flight Of The Conchords were dealing with.
Fortunately, the musical highlights helped to quiet the crowd a bit. Inspired tunes like "The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room," "Business Time," "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros," "Inner City Pressure," and their tribute to
David Bowie were all included in their set. As an added bonus, they managed to come back to the stage for an encore consisting of three tunes -- that, despite Bret's repeated notice that they were running out of time thanks to the audience's ridiculously rude antics.
I'm not sure how audiences throughout the rest of the United States will respond to
The Flight Of The Conchords, but I can only hope they'll at least allow the duo they came to see get their act off the ground.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here to see a list of upcoming performance dates.Labels: Bret McKenzie, Comedy, HBO, Jermaine Clement, Kristen Schaal, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Sutton Foster, Television, The Flight Of The Conchords, The SOB Review
Jon Stewart (The SOB Review) - Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
***1/2 (out of ****)
He may be America's premier purveyor of "fake" news, but comedian
Jon Stewart and his uniformly funny stand-up routine are 100% genuine and clearly from the heart.
And surprise! Without accompaniment of written notes that have almost become de rigueur for many comedians, Stewart delivers an authentic 95-minute performance that transforms him from
Comedy Central's top commodity into a satirist with incredible humanity and compassion. In essence, he becomes a de facto "Every Man" for our 21st Century.
Sure, he warms up by serving tasty punchlines his television audience has already heard, including observations on last week's GOP presidential debates and the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But once he really gets going, he proffers surprising insights on everything from global warming to gay rights to God's "chosen people." He even shares his common sense solutions for preventing further Columbines.
While "
The Daily Show" certainly provides Stewart with a prized bully pulpit, he wisely uses his stage performance to burnish his growing reputation as America's most articulate, thoughtful and stimulating humorist since the days of
Will Rogers. With a certifiably hopeful eye on the future, Stewart's routine made
me stand up... and cheer.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Comedy, Jon Stewart, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Special Theatrical Event
Pushing Daisey
Just as I must vigorously defend Daisey's right to use his First Amendment rights, regardless of how appropriate or inappropriate I might find the subject matter, I also defend the First Amendment rights of audience members to express themselves by walking out from a show they found objectionable.
But speaking of objectionable, there is absolutely no defense whatsoever for the adult chaperone (to the students of California's
Norco High School) who doused a bottle of water over the outline for Daisey's routine. For that, Daisey is deserving of the belated apology
he received from Norco principal Jeff Johnson.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Boston, Comedy, First Amendment, Freedom Of Speech, Invincible Summer, Mike Daisey
Sandra Bernhard IS Plan B From Outer Space (The SOB Review) - Rossi's Blue Star Room, Minneapolis, MN
*** (out of ****)
In
Sandra Bernhard IS Plan B From Outer Space, it's not so much
not knowing where the Flint, Michigan native is coming from -- I think I've at least kind of sorted that out after all these years -- but it's wondering where she's taking you.
Just when you think she's whirled you out of orbit, she suddenly comes back to the original point with style and finesse. It's quite a ride.
Not so surprising, but utterly funny was her entrance from the back of the room singing "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" with remarkable clarity and just enough grit. Her voice has certainly come a long, long way from its rather raw beginnings.
Most of her music, accompanied by a tight three piece band, serves to bookend her nearly non-stop two hour performance, starting with playful R&B takes on the aforementioned
Jennifer Holliday tune -- along with
Monica and Brandy's "The Boy Is Mine" and a poignant tribute to
Nina Simone -- and concluding with her rocking out to
Guns N' Roses ("Welcome To The Jungle"),
Led Zeppelin ("Whole Lotta Love") and
Prince ("Little Red Corvette").
Along the way, Bernhard easily sways from the irreverent to the reverential.
Yet she also demonstrates great restraint and reverence, whether it's her salient remarks on the events at Virginia Tech and the continued loss of life in Iraq or even on the death of the late great
Kitty Carlisle Hart.
While the title of her act may suggest she's from another planet, Ms. Bernhard has thankfully come back down to earth to entertain us once again.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Cabaret Act, Comedy, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Sandra Bernhard, Sandra Bernhard IS Plan B From Outer Space, The SOB Review
Margaret Cho In Concert (The SOB Overview) - Northrup Auditorium, Minneapolis, MNComedian
Margaret Cho In Concert is hilariously fierce. Giving an absolutely lucid, raunchy performance, the remarkably beautiful and rather svelte Cho is a gifted comic, whose timing has never been better.
Since Cho’s weekend act was actually to benefit
District 202, a nonprofit youth center in the Twin Cities, I'll refrain from giving a regular review. However, I will say that this latter day humorist knocks practically every one of her jokes out of the ball park with biting, self-effacing wit and keen social insights.
Among the topics she tackled via hilarious riffs were airplane travel, India, Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, growing up in San Francisco, growing up Korean American, President Bush and the war in Iraq. She's at her funniest when she contorts her rubber face, whether affectionately mocking her mother or describing lewd sexual acts.
Although I could have done without the protracted bathroom humor, this comedian has never been funnier than she is when engaging in thoughtful social commentary.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Comedy, Concert, Margaret Cho, Minneapolis/St. Paul, The SOB Overview
