#1
Posted: 4/29/05 at 11:50am
Hi everybody!
Things fell together perfectly for me last weekend in that my special friend and I found ourselves with free time at the same time. I was psyched because we were able to book a table at the Duplex for the first performance of Rob Maitner’s “Basket Case: A Songspiel for the Unhinged.”
I’ve never been much of a “group person,” so when I read somewhere on the board that “everybody who’s anybody” would be going to the second show, on April 30, I realized, “Phew! I never enjoy everybody who’s anybody events, and this will give me a chance to see the show without that added responsibility of seeing and being seen!” It was actually somewhat touch and go because my special friend recently suffered the loss of his father, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to be up for going out at all.
I’ve been sitting with my reactions to the show for a week. I’d like to be able to do it justice and to encourage people who may be sitting on the fence about seeing the show to hop off the fence and get themselves to the Duplex.
But, for the time being, allow me to digress and use my special friend as an example of somebody you’d want to sit in your audience if you want to see how your show plays to the exact opposite of the wise and jaded insider audience that most of us could probably count ourselves among. He probably has heard 1/2 of the songs from musicals that Rob sang, seen 1/4 of them performed in productions of the shows themselves.
For the few days leading up to the weekend, he'd say things like, "Now how do you know this guy we're seeing Saturday? Just from online? But you've never met in person?" And then I heard him on the phone telling somebody we were going to see "a comedy show" Saturday night. I explained that it was probably more like songs and patter than a comedy show, but that from Rob's online sense of humor, I was sure there would be a few laughs.
Okay, so, fade in, fade out. If there is ONE thing my special friend hates above anything else, it's drink minimums. So I told him as we headed toward the Duplex, that the whole night was on me, to order two drinks right away, and to not think of them as required.
As for the show itself, I will give away no spoilers here, because part of the thrill is wondering what Robbie is going to do next. Let me just say that Robbie has exquisite taste in song selection, a lovely singing voice that I found achingly beautiful at times and SUCH an ear for variety and unexpected arrangements. And a way with a story. I know a thing or two about comedy writing, and the stories he told were hilarious. And occasionally the punchlines had punchlines.
And as hard as I laughed, I was also swept away by his technical skills as a singer. I mean, Rob’s really, really good. What is so great about Basket Case is that I couldn't guess what was going to come next and was thrilled to go along for the ride. And also, there was one moment that I found myself covered in goosebumps, which always makes me think of Trudy explaining Goosebump Experiences to the space aliens in “Search for Signs of Intelligent Life,” about how art has the ability to evoke a chemical response within us, if it’s really good. I also got a little weepy a couple of times, but my special friend would explain to you that that's hardly unusual. He says I "cry at a grapefruit."
People who’ve read my posts here over the years probably have figured out something about me: I don't gush if I don't mean it. Going to see “Basket Case” was a minor crapshoot for me, the worst case scenario would have been how to be polite if the show wasn't my cup of tea. I would have pasted a fake smile on my face and said a few empty words. Instead I found myself wanting to tell Rob that what he did in his cabaret show reminded me of Sandra Bernhard’s shows when she’s at her best. How she can take a funny idea, even outlandish ideas, and make us laugh and then slowly over the course of a song make us see the poignancy and truth in what she’s singing. How she can illustrate for us something like, “Yeah, these are the conventions of the form, but let me move you beyond the standard responses you’re used to having.” I don’t know if other people love Sandra the way I do, but it’s one of the highest compliments I can pay Rob. Coming from my sensibility, that’s a five-star approval rating.
I will let the final word be my special friend’s. At the end of the night he went to the men's room and came back and I had paid the bill. He said, "Did you really pay for everything?" And I told him that I didn't want to have him get angsty over the two-drink minimum. He said, "Oh, I don't mind if it's something as good as Rob's show."
I've never heard him say anything like that before, and I've known him 10 years. He loved the show, too. Throughout the next day, we kept repeating an ad-lib that Robbie made to a work friend who was chattering during the show. And I thought of a line he attributed to his mother in one story and would start giggling in the least appropriate moments at work this week.
Seeing “Basket Case” was a bigger crapshoot for my special friend. He had no sense of RobbieJ’s online sensibility. He just went along for the ride as somebody who enjoys a good show, but doesn't dissect things the way I do, isn't overly familiar with the cabaret format and isn't particularly wed to the modern musical canon. The two of us, coming from two different places, loved the show equally.
I’m just so glad that we were able to make it. I’m officially a fan of Rob’s forever. Unless he becomes a born again ex-gay and starts singing on 700 Club. To those of you who are seeing the show, have a sip of your two drink minimums for me and my special friend! And throw in a clap for RobbieJ from us.
(I said "a" clap, not "the" clap!)
Namo
Things fell together perfectly for me last weekend in that my special friend and I found ourselves with free time at the same time. I was psyched because we were able to book a table at the Duplex for the first performance of Rob Maitner’s “Basket Case: A Songspiel for the Unhinged.”
I’ve never been much of a “group person,” so when I read somewhere on the board that “everybody who’s anybody” would be going to the second show, on April 30, I realized, “Phew! I never enjoy everybody who’s anybody events, and this will give me a chance to see the show without that added responsibility of seeing and being seen!” It was actually somewhat touch and go because my special friend recently suffered the loss of his father, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to be up for going out at all.
I’ve been sitting with my reactions to the show for a week. I’d like to be able to do it justice and to encourage people who may be sitting on the fence about seeing the show to hop off the fence and get themselves to the Duplex.
But, for the time being, allow me to digress and use my special friend as an example of somebody you’d want to sit in your audience if you want to see how your show plays to the exact opposite of the wise and jaded insider audience that most of us could probably count ourselves among. He probably has heard 1/2 of the songs from musicals that Rob sang, seen 1/4 of them performed in productions of the shows themselves.
For the few days leading up to the weekend, he'd say things like, "Now how do you know this guy we're seeing Saturday? Just from online? But you've never met in person?" And then I heard him on the phone telling somebody we were going to see "a comedy show" Saturday night. I explained that it was probably more like songs and patter than a comedy show, but that from Rob's online sense of humor, I was sure there would be a few laughs.
Okay, so, fade in, fade out. If there is ONE thing my special friend hates above anything else, it's drink minimums. So I told him as we headed toward the Duplex, that the whole night was on me, to order two drinks right away, and to not think of them as required.
As for the show itself, I will give away no spoilers here, because part of the thrill is wondering what Robbie is going to do next. Let me just say that Robbie has exquisite taste in song selection, a lovely singing voice that I found achingly beautiful at times and SUCH an ear for variety and unexpected arrangements. And a way with a story. I know a thing or two about comedy writing, and the stories he told were hilarious. And occasionally the punchlines had punchlines.
And as hard as I laughed, I was also swept away by his technical skills as a singer. I mean, Rob’s really, really good. What is so great about Basket Case is that I couldn't guess what was going to come next and was thrilled to go along for the ride. And also, there was one moment that I found myself covered in goosebumps, which always makes me think of Trudy explaining Goosebump Experiences to the space aliens in “Search for Signs of Intelligent Life,” about how art has the ability to evoke a chemical response within us, if it’s really good. I also got a little weepy a couple of times, but my special friend would explain to you that that's hardly unusual. He says I "cry at a grapefruit."
People who’ve read my posts here over the years probably have figured out something about me: I don't gush if I don't mean it. Going to see “Basket Case” was a minor crapshoot for me, the worst case scenario would have been how to be polite if the show wasn't my cup of tea. I would have pasted a fake smile on my face and said a few empty words. Instead I found myself wanting to tell Rob that what he did in his cabaret show reminded me of Sandra Bernhard’s shows when she’s at her best. How she can take a funny idea, even outlandish ideas, and make us laugh and then slowly over the course of a song make us see the poignancy and truth in what she’s singing. How she can illustrate for us something like, “Yeah, these are the conventions of the form, but let me move you beyond the standard responses you’re used to having.” I don’t know if other people love Sandra the way I do, but it’s one of the highest compliments I can pay Rob. Coming from my sensibility, that’s a five-star approval rating.
I will let the final word be my special friend’s. At the end of the night he went to the men's room and came back and I had paid the bill. He said, "Did you really pay for everything?" And I told him that I didn't want to have him get angsty over the two-drink minimum. He said, "Oh, I don't mind if it's something as good as Rob's show."
I've never heard him say anything like that before, and I've known him 10 years. He loved the show, too. Throughout the next day, we kept repeating an ad-lib that Robbie made to a work friend who was chattering during the show. And I thought of a line he attributed to his mother in one story and would start giggling in the least appropriate moments at work this week.
Seeing “Basket Case” was a bigger crapshoot for my special friend. He had no sense of RobbieJ’s online sensibility. He just went along for the ride as somebody who enjoys a good show, but doesn't dissect things the way I do, isn't overly familiar with the cabaret format and isn't particularly wed to the modern musical canon. The two of us, coming from two different places, loved the show equally.
I’m just so glad that we were able to make it. I’m officially a fan of Rob’s forever. Unless he becomes a born again ex-gay and starts singing on 700 Club. To those of you who are seeing the show, have a sip of your two drink minimums for me and my special friend! And throw in a clap for RobbieJ from us.
(I said "a" clap, not "the" clap!)
Namo
Twitter @NamoInExile
Instagram none
Updated On: 4/29/05 at 11:50 AM
