[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Kami Dimitrova’s Kami Girl, Let’s Go, Tonight!, directed by Connor Bowen, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2025.
There was an awful lot of clowning at this year’s Hollywood Fringe. And I don’t mean the curly ginger wig type. I mean what’s being called ‘soft’ clowning. Characters that are odd, interesting, realistic, vivid and funny and strange, but not exactly absurd. More reflective of people that you may know, or have met or have come across and thought…wow…there’s a wild character!
Kami Girl is exactly that, a wild, wild character. She is the daughter of a Bulgarian restaurant owner. She’s probably in her 40s, but she dresses like a child, all loud colors and unnecessary layers. She’s a dreamer, always looking for the joy and the whimsy in everything. She’s probably on the spectrum, but she could also just be a nutty genius. Either way, she can’t seem to get anything right on the day this show is set.
She’s late to work at the restaurant, she spills things, messes up orders, and is generally chaotic until she is demoted several times and is eventually sent home in disgrace. It’s like watching a monkey that talks try and wait tables. Kami has no sense of completion. She is ADHA personified. She is weird and slightly terrifying. But we can’t help but love her.
Kami Dimitrova as Kami is so incredibly good. You just can’t take your eyes of her. And not just because she’s a bit unnerving. Clowning is supposed to unnerve you. It’s supposed to challenge your perceptions, push your boundaries of entertainment. Make you wince and squirm and laugh at your awkwardness as well as the performers.
We can all see ourselves in Kami. In her ability to lose focus, to mean well but like a three year old, not be nearly as capable as they wish they could be. It’s just not in her nature. Even though she wants her father to love her and value her, this show feels like a day in her life that repeats and repeats. She’s on a loop, this catastrophic, hilarious, joyful paint box of a person. There is also an ingenious live pianist who attempts to accompany Kami in the performance. It seems like most of this accompaniment is improvised. He follows along with her escapades, and as she includes audience members, I suppose each show differs from the next and I certainly got the feeling that anything could happen at any time. Needless to say, JC Wright on piano was absolutely brilliant and added another layer of joy!!
I sat in the audience surrounded by people who absolutely loved this show. Who delighted in Kami. Her obsessions. Her inability to do the right thing. Her lack of a filter of any kind. Kami, in her moments of absurdity and whimsy, personifies free. She is unpolluted and completely wonderful. The show is utterly gorgeous, and I hope to see much more from Kami Dimitrova!!! One of my favorite Hollywood Fringe shows!!!
You can find out more about Kami Dimitrova here: https://www.kamidimitrova.com/
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See all the NoHo Art theatre reviews for the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2025>>