PartyBoy

Adam Smith’s Partyboy feels less like a play than an absurd, hilarious conversation with the audience. Framed around Smith’s attempt to learn how to throw better parties, the show quickly becomes an intensely interactive experiment in connection. Audience members are asked to play rock, paper, scissors with strangers, offer up knock-knock jokes, and turn to their neighbors to decide which of them is more likely to be vulnerable in public. The tone of the show flips on a dime. One moment, Smith is doing the “Bunny Hop,” a dance he learned from one of the instructional cassette tapes he plays throughout the show. Next, he might be sitting on the ground eating a brownie while suspenseful music swells. Between the sillier bits, Smith occasion... full review

I had seen Adam Smith's previous work, so I came in expecting to be entertained and he did not disappoint. Party Boy follows a man seemingly searching for connection amid the chaos of his own party, at least as I interpreted it. The show is an immersive experience driven by a character whose awkward, unpredictable energy evokes the spirit of Andy Kaufman and Zach Galifianakis. Much of the humor comes from watching him navigate his own discomfort, creating moments that are both cringeworthy and hilarious.... full review