[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Monkeys on My Back & Everywhere Else!, written and performed by two-time Emmy Award-nominated writer and multiple award-winning comedian Debbie Kasper, directed by Chris Barnes with original music by Wyn Wilson, playing at The Odyssey Theatre through April 12.
I have a passion for solo shows. Good, bad or somewhere in the middle, I can always find something wonderful, something poignant, something unforgettable. However, I have to say, Monkeys on My Back & Everywhere Else! is something entirely and far beyond your regular ‘wonderful.’
This warmly hilarious and absolutely flawless solo show is phenomenal. A richly drawn and subtly powerful story of a life.
Comedian Debbie Kasper is an absolutely brilliant performer with two Emmys and a myriad of award nominations. In this show, Kasper takes her audience on a journey through her life. Beginning in her childhood, her struggles with addiction led her to comedy, performing in bars and clubs as she rose through the ranks. She shares the love she has for stand up and how in many ways it saved her.
What moved me the most about this hilarious and beautifully truthful show was the fluidity with which Debbie navigates the highs and lows of a life. It takes real skill to make an audience feel as if they are discovering everything alongside the performer. It’s a magical gift to hold true to a clearly ingeniously constructed and finely tuned story structure and to give the illusion of a conversation rather than a play.
To add to the magic of this show, we have the accompanying pianist, Wyn Wilson. Wyn weaves her continuously flowing music like a web around the show. After a few minutes, you hardly notice it at all, so intrinsic it is to the mood and the flow and the heart of the show. It seems to work in the same way expert lighting does. It simply enhances what is already there, focusing the mind on important moments and pivotal phrases.
Wyn is exceptional and gifted and everything she plays feels like an improvisation to Debbie Kasper’s words. I have never seen a show accompanied like this, and now I would like Wyn Wilson to play me through my day, please!
What a life Debbie Kasper has led. Wild family, wilder ways of survival and addiction and abuse, and all the while with a fabulous wit and steely nerves enough to not just persevere, but to triumph.
And then there is her love. Her husband, whom she met late in life, and together they had an incredible marriage and a deep deep love. But he fell ill and tragically died, with Debbie nursing him, trying to keep him with her for as long as possible. But cancer is an evil and persistent partner. Most of us have firsthand experience of that. But Debbie held on tight, and now she knows that love is all there is really, and it’s an honor to have it for as long as it stays. Even with this sadness, she lights the room.
She is a beautiful conjurer of words and moments. Effortlessly playing her part in this gorgeous, touching and hilarious show.
Her director, Chris Barnes, is her genius collaborator and whatever they did to make this show, it works as well as anything I have seen. And I have seen hundreds of solo shows over the years.
The show is running until April 12 at the Odyssey Theatre and I urge you to see it. You must, it’s compulsory. But unlike most things that are, Monkeys on My Back & Everywhere Else! is an unforgettable master class that will remind you just how powerful and innovative theatre can be.
Monkeys on My Back & Everywhere Else! Is highly recommended and utterly brilliant!
Where:
The Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles
When:
March 7-April 12
No Performances: March 20 and April 3 & 5