My overall impression
MO MO MO HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?
The Mo Mo Sho had my expectations exceeding my results. Occasional nervous laughter and an uncomfortably warm sweatbox theater were the order of the day. The one man show spins the tale of a half Jewish Moroccan Muslim in America. Or does it? The disconnectly and mildly interesting anecdotes are bound together by threads of sand. Balloon tricks and competent, yet hardly original pantomine pepper the perf. Mohammed’s thick accent seemed impenetrable at times, slowing the reception of comedic timing by the audiences. Pandering to the presumed prejudices of his audience toward Islamic peoples (towel heads and Berkas) he throws both jokes repeatedly at the audience along with imaginary dog S#*! in a plastic bag which nearly hit my wife in the head. Readers should understand that many Muslims find dogs to be unclean animals, not man’s best friends. An excessively long segment about the cultural differences between Kosher butchers and Arab meat markets rambled on forever using the same punchline over and over again. A brief reference to the 911 tragedy stuck in my throat like a piece of broken glass in a fallafel. The treatment of the American flag at the end of the show was shocking to me as a veteran and would have people storming the stage in any city in Texas. Not to compare apples to oranges, a far better Fringe piece covering the same ground from a feminine P.O.V. could be found up the street at I LOVE HAMAS (which I will also review). The show has potential to change our viewpoint only if it ceases to spit in our eye.
