John Fugelsang, Jamie Jackson, Baratunde Thurston, Scott Blakeman and Jamie Kilstein.
© sublime photographic via Cynthia Kouril
There are times when I feel very blessed to live in New York City. Friday night was just such a night. I had the opportunity to see the Laughing Liberally, an off-Broadway comedy show at the Midtown theater in Manhattan. In a single evening I was able to laugh uproariously as I took in the life experiences of a self-described liberal New York City Jew, an Iranian-American Muslim, a manic Brooklyn hipster, an Australian man masquerading as a English Lady, an extremely handsome dude raised on mean streets of DC, and a self-described "fag stag."
It is good to get out, have a drink and try to have a good laugh at our shared horror that is living with progressive values in a world under assault by teabaggers.
Laughing Liberally is an off-Broadway comedy show organized by the Living Liberally Network. I'm sure many here are well-acquainted with their affiliated "Drinking Liberally" program (also the small "d", small "l" variation). From their website:
Laughing Liberally is a comedy show which uses humor and laughter to spread understanding of liberal ideas and advance progressive values. Showcasing the brightest progressive comedians from all across the nation in an off-Broadway show in New York City and on a national tour, Laughing Liberally will save democracy one laugh at a time.
Our host for night shared the vision for the program as being "comedy can be a vehicle for communicating progressive ideas, often better than Democratic politicians." The line-up of performers changes nightly, a schedule is posted at the website. The line-up for the night I attended included: Scott Blakeman, Negin Farsad, Jamie Kilstein, Jamie Jackson, Baratunde Thurston, and John Fugelsang.
It was evident on all their faces and in their performances—and some performers expressed directly—that it was a relief for them to be able to segue into the topic of progressive politics with a smart, progressive crowd. Apparently, most comedy venues don't appreciate a good Noam Chomsky joke. A couple comic did, however, did find themselves tip-toeing around the topic of President Barack Obama. Kilstein theorized America was like a person coming out of an abusive relationship and as such, was perhaps a little too quick to set the standards a little too low. "Not torturing innocent people," should really not be used as high watermark on the progressive agenda, he offered.
There was an excellent variety, energy and pacing to the show. Comedy bits were bookended by short video clips, like this hilarious send up of a tourist bureau ad from Second City's Andy Cobb, inviting you to the "Libertarian Paradise" of Somalia:
"...because Government isn't the solution to our problems,
Government is the problem, and now you have cholera."
The Bits
• Scott Blakeman was up first, a self-described member of the a waning breed, the Liberal New York City Jew. He was polished, relaxed, and in comparison to some that followed, more conventional in his approach. He did riffs on the conservatives' panic over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," wondering what it is about the light of bombshells that is so bewitching soldiers they'd be compelled to get it on in the battlefield. On our budgetary priorities, he described the bombing of Libya, aka Operation Odyssey Dawn, as "the only operation our government will pay for." He thought the country would be better off tasking insurance companies not with providing health care, but with overseeing the Department of Defense. "I'm sorry, your claim to bomb Iran has been denied. Tyranny in Libya? Yeah... Sorry, that's pre-existing condition." Overall, an excellent, engaging performance by a veteran comedian.
• Iranian American Negin Farsad was next. She explored the intersection of her Muslim cultural roots and her thoroughly American values. Apparently, it's difficult to explaining your trip to the health clinic for an STD test to your immigrant mother when Farsi does not even have a word for sex. She's on her own peacemaking mission, bumping uglies with a Jew, a topic she explores on stage and in her film The Isreali-Palestinian Conflict. Taboo is where the fun is.
• Brooklyn hipster Jamie Kilstein had a manic energy that just exploded all over the stage. I was reminded of Henry Rollins, as his style, while very funny, eschewed the standard set-up-punchline style for a more free-form rant. Another straight guy for marriage equality, he offered any man who'd beaten off to lesbian porn was morally obligated to support marriage equality, "You don't get to come and oppress." Contrasting opposite marriage, he said, "Gays will raise children for better reasons than just the condom broke." On the drone attacks in Pakistan he wondered about the wisdom of giving robots guns to fight our wars, "That works out fine, EXCEPT IN EVERY SCI-FI MOVIE EVER MADE!" He suggested instead of our current guns and bombs tactic for "exporting democracy" we send other countries the new American Dream: working three jobs, nursing an drinking problem, drowning in debt and dying of diabetes.
• A real change of pace came when actor Jamie Jackson stepped out in full drag, introducing himself as "Lady Margo Barnesley Farnsworth." In his fictitious set up, The Lady Farnsworth is an English immigré, who longs for the ritual of her tea parties in the old country, and explores a tea party culture of another kind here in America. Jackson spins comedy gold of the contrast of a properly mannered English Lady, moving delightfully through the vulgar "Guns, God and (no) Gays" culture of the tea party. Jackson is a very talented performer and as he "just happened to be carrying a piano" with him treated the crowd to several wonderful parody songs. It was interesting watching Jackson masterfully pull the crowd, reluctantly at first, out from the real world of authentic monologues into his imaginary world. Jackson takes the briefest moment in his bit to land in a place of despair and rage many of us feel about the direction we see the country going. It's a very brave choice as a performer—and it works—elevating his bit for just the shortest instant from slapstick to shared poignancy.
• Young, African-American Baratunde Thurston introduced himself, explaining his unusual name: Baratunde, Nigerian for "one with no nickname," Thurston, English for "Property of Master Thurston." It's also a name you might recognize from The Onion. He described himself as having grown up in the roughest streets of Washington, DC. It was very much like HBO's show "The Wire," "We had poverty, crime, drug trade, police corruption, violence, death." But, "where it was different was we didn't have universal critical acclaim and the undying love of white people who saw it." (Ouch, yes, I saw myself. Love "The Wire," bad neighborhoods, not so much.) He had a very up-to-date set of current events, and is clearly an intelligent, thoughtful, sharp tongued comic with a brighter future that his past could ever have promised.
• The final performer was John Fugelsang, and for me, the big draw for the night. I had high expectations because his every Tweet is a jewel, and he did not disappoint. He did find himself treading carefully from the left, saying he didn't riff on the Democrats, because "it's not nice to make jokes about the handicapped," which was met with both groans and hearty laughs. He describes himself as Irish, Danish and German, which means, "I get drunk, hide the Jews and then look for them."
Like Kilstein, he performed an excellent rant on homophobia and the idiocy of not supporting marriage equality. (Let's hear it for the straight boys! Fugelsang describes himself as a proud "fag stag.")
In a bit on Dr. Laura's unfortunate run in with the "N" word, he ranted on white conservatives' insane fixation over being forbidden to use the word (looking at you Elizabeth Hasselback). After so many centuries of white people telling blacks what they can and cannot do, "all the black people are asking of white people is 'just don't say that one word.' It is not that hard to do this!"
Fugelsang is apparently a news junkie saying his satellite allows him to get Glenn Beck "in the original German." And any MSNBC viewer will love his spot-on impression of a Chris Matthews roundtable discussion, where not one of the five guests manages to get a single word in. Fugelsang gets Matthews' voice, inflection and relentless, ADD insertions of pop culture non-sequesters pitch-perfect. Unfortunately, Fugelsang did include a joke that mocked Ann Coulter's gender, reminding us we have to continue to educate even our best progressive friends on issues related to gender identity and trans sensitivity. There are many other, better, reasons to mock Ann Coulter. Let's remember to keep our environments safe and inclusive for our trans friends too.
Overall, the show was professionally produced and directed and a thoroughly enjoyable experience, although it at times might be, perhaps, challenging for those with more delicate sensibilities. It featured a lineup of top talent performers with very diverse life experiences and backgrounds. They are coming together to celebrate our common values of supporting racial, religious and cultural harmony, social justice, LGBT equality, peace and the goal of ending wars, ignorance, hate, disease and poverty. Also to make fun of some stupid teabaggers.
New York: LAUGHING LIBERALLY: THIS AIN'T NO TEA PARTY runs through May 22nd at The Midtown Theater, 163 West 46th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues. The show is performed every Monday, Friday and Saturday at 7PM, and Sunday at 5PM. Ticket details here.
Other Cities: There are currently Laughing Liberally chapters in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago. There is also a national tour and they are actively recruiting new chapters, more info here.