What I liked
I loved the audience participation. The way Johnny Yoder is able to fully engage his audience, inviting them to take part in this journey was a wonder to behold. You wanted to be noticed. You wanted him to pick you out of the crowd just to see how you become part of the story. When he picks you out, he makes genuine eye contact. He reads you while you reading him. You forget the interaction is total fiction. You want to have this conversation with Thom Pain. Get to know him. Understand him.
I’ve also never enjoyed being called a cunt so much. This show was dark and hilarious!
What I didn't like
Nothing.
My overall impression
MASTERFUL! Johnny Yoder’s command of the stage and the audience had me on the edge of my seat. Yoder and Keith have crafted a show that indulges in the nihilistic and cynical point of the writer, while rooting their piece in something much deeper. Sensitive. Loving. Vulnerable. Painful. The louder the character invited the audience to go fuck themselves, the more vulnerable Yoder’s Thom Pain became. We want love. We want to be seen. We want validation and recognition. But what do we do when we don’t get it? Put on our mask, yell fuck you to the universe and hide the pain with comedic diversions.
