LBJFKKK
I’ll admit I wasn’t dying to see this play. I mean, there’s so much garbage out there. All these pathetic little comedy groups modeling themselves after Second City, which has been a dreadful bore for years. Face it, it’s just comedy for drunks. And LBJFKKK didn’t promise to be anything different. The title alone–which turns out to be as irrelevant as it is dumb–is enough to make you stay home. So there I was expecting the worst, slipping on my executioner’s mask as the house lights dimmed. And then these actors came out and made me laugh until I cried. What a fine show!
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Plot is no big deal here. Cardiff Giant’s press release describes LBJFKKK as a comedy “about a neighborhood watch gone bad,” and that’s about it. But at least it’s a play and not 23 sketches based on TV commercials and current events. And it’s not the sort of play that makes use of strategically placed one-liners like The My House Play or Traveller in the Dark, which are the last couple shows I saw at Wisdom Bridge. Nor is it that sloppy, anything goes, keg-party humor. Nor, thank God, is it artsy or conceptual.
Look, the script is good and smart, but the truly amazing thing here is the performances. Not the performers, but the performances. I make that distinction because I’m so used to seeing performers displaying their “talents,” being cute, acting like insufferable children showing off for the relatives. What I miss are the characters that these performers are supposed to portray. And that’s at least as important in comedy as in any other kind of drama. This cast forks over some characters, and they hold the cuteness.
It’s hard to say how much credit for this production goes to director Greg Kotis, since the show evolved (incredibly enough) out of company improvisation. I will say there’s some deft comic timing and elaborate physical humor–and these things don’t just happen. Most of all, fight scenes don’t just happen. And LBJFKKK has both the best and the funniest fight scene that I’ve ever seen onstage. It may have lasted less than a minute, but it outclasses Hulk Hogan’s entire career.
