My overall impression
Tony Frankel, theatre critic from Stage and Cinema here. I couldn’t think of a better way to pop my Festival cherry than with Steve Ochs and his solo outing, Life in the Middle Ages. Although the veneer of the show is a stand-up act about the stages of mid-life and aging (denial, acceptance, etc), Ochs manages to deliver his very funny insights with sincerity and humility – this allows him to occasionally go off-book or riff with an audience member. The show is packed with three-syllable words…and you gotta love a handsome man with a stellar vocabulary.
Two things sealed the deal for my affinity for Ochs show, though – one: in-between segments, a delightfully well-written Medieval Fairy Tale is told by a sexy female voice-over artist, and I adore well-written stories; and, two: Ochs risks alienating his audience by leading us through a guided meditation, but the pay-off is still with me days later.
A recommended show, especially for the over-30 set. Oh, and thanks for the MANscaping tips, Mr. Ochs.
