blackboxing

cabaret & variety · imaginary reality · Ages 15+ · United States of America

world premiere
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Review by NICK RHEINWALD-JONES

June 22, 2019 certified reviewer

What I liked

Bouncing across about a thousand different kinds of comedic setups could be exhausting in the wrong hands, but Matt Ritchey has the exact right hands — well, one right and one left, but he uses both of them to great effect, and his voice is pretty spectacular too, whether he’s singing or yelling or doing accents. The “radio play” scene alone is worth the price of admission and proof that he’s has been hiding too many of his talents (or maybe he’s just been hiding them from me, but that’s fair because he has no reason to trust me).

Jim Niedzialkowski is hilariously imposing, making plenty of hay (“hay” means “comedy” here) out of a mostly voice-only role.

What I didn't like

There might have been a few Fringe/theatrical in-jokes that went over my head, but everyone around me was roaring at them, so this is probably less a criticism and more a commentary on my not having seen enough shows. What was the question again?

My overall impression

Ridiculously entertaining and thoroughly delightful, with the kind of lead performance that Travis Acedia would surely call a “tour de force.”

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