What I liked
What’s great is that the show is about storytelling itself; Chambers sets up how his family’s storytelling habits shaped his life and eventually led him to California and a career in the arts.
The format of the show is killer; Chambers picks from a set of cards, each with a celebrity name on it, and then tells of his encounter. But he doesn’t know in advance which cards he will get for any particular performance, so there’s a bit of discovery with the audience as he goes along. Chambers is a master orator and every story has a twist.
SPOILER-FREE examples: In the show I saw he talked about a disastrous meeting with Julia Roberts (at the height of her Pretty Woman fame) just a few days after he moved to L.A, how he conscripted his wife to perform at a celebrity birthday party with him so they could make their rent — and the surprise she had when she learned whose party it was. He told us of an unexpected late-night 1 on 1 conversation with Michael Jackson, which had a shocker of a twist. He told us how, as a teenager, he wound up dancing with the New York City ballet with zero notice at the Grand Ole Opry. And many more.
What I didn't like
I wanted more stories!
My overall impression
This is a hysterical and heartfelt journey through the ups and downs of life — by way of celebrity encounters — as told by Chambers Stevens. In his decades of living in Los Angeles, he’s bumped into just about every celebrity you can name and each one has a story — and a lesson.
