What I liked
The speed with which Taya brought each character to three dimensional life was ASTONISHING. Each character was so hilarious and weird yet completely grounded and human, and I could have watched her create dozens MORE characters. It was so smart and fun to have the audience members customize mannequin heads for her to then create a character with: I was so engaged and excited to see everyone’s creation come to life and EVERY TIME I was surprised and delighted by the nuances that Taya fleshed out. They were hyper specific, three dimensional, and so committed. Each character was more fascinating than the last, and so intriguing I would love to watch separate hour long shows from each one.
What I didn't like
n/a
My overall impression
Taya is a magnetic performer who has conquered so many skills that she can whip them out with a literal second’s notice: her facial expressions, physicality, accents, and ability to pull from real life experience came together in perfect concert. The way she told us so much about a character with a brief glance or comment was incredible, and each time my reaction was “oh I know that guy” even if it was a truly outlandish mannequin creation by the audience member.
I felt like I was inside a brilliant comedian’s thought process, and I loved it. Taya is SO hilarious and fantastic at improv that she always made her scene partner feel in on the joke, and even set them up for success whenever possible. Seeing such a master of the craft was like getting a quick improv class as well, but it felt more like being inside an improv teacher’s brain? It was a joy to watch and I can’t wait for the next iteration of this show. I wish I could have made it to earlier shows in the Fringe run, because each show would be SO different and fun based on what audience members created for Taya to play with.
The opening performer Sarah Lento was FABULOUS: her haunted auctioneer was so funny and smart, and really set the tone for the kind of top tier character work we were about to see.
