Review by anonymous
June 21, 2022What I liked
Nothing, except that I got a free book when I left the theatre. Also, kudos to keeping this snooze fest under 1 hour.
What I didn't like
Everything. The Script. The Performer. The oversized costume. How about hiring a director? The pacing is non-existent. Ernest does not have the presence or talent to make it work. I am not sure any actor would to be honest. It starts with the script and this one is just extremely weak and boring. It is about as base as you can write, especially when trying to tell the tale of such an interesting man. Top that off with no director and you have an abomination on stage.
If you want to see how a one man show about someone you don’t know much about, look no further than Mitchell Bisschop’s The Toughest Man in Chicago. That is how you do it. This is how it’s done.
If Kearney bring this back for a 5th time, I implore you to go and see how bad theatre can get.
My overall impression
I was embarrassed for the performer.
Ernest, God love him, is not an actor. This whole thing felt like a bad 8th grade report where you dress up like the character that you’ve researched and stand in front of the class and recite. “My name is…I was born…”
The fact that this is the fourth reiteration of this show is unbelievable to me. I can’t imagine how lousy the first three must have been. This is a rough draft at best.
I wanted to like this show. Ernest seems like a nice fella. I have seen him at plays and he has reviewed shows for my company. And while I appreciate him partaking in the theatre community, he has no business on a stage. None whatsoever. This really doesn’t bode well for his standing with me as a critic. Seriously, how am I supposed to give merit to his reviews or Top 10 lists after he drops a stinky, rotten egg this bad? This is amateur hour at its finest.
