By Elazar Abrahams
Get your butt to a seat at the West Village’s Lucille Lortel Theatre quickly, because you won’t want to miss Rachel Bloom’s hysterical one woman show, now in performances through the end of the month. Titled “Death, Let Me Do My Show,” the 80 minute performance features the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star’s signature shtick — zany original songs that are the perfect blend of raunchy and profound.
The unique tone of Bloom’s tunes is one the entire piece manages to strike so well. What is at first masked as a simple hour of standup comedy quickly reveals itself to be a clever rumination on loss, grief, motherhood, and the afterlife. To spoil the conceit would be a shame, but the show is pandemic art that acknowledges up front how annoying pandemic art is. That ever-looming specter of tragedy still haunts the world in 2023 and there is no escaping it. Somehow though, Bloom can jump between stories of her newborn daughter’s time in the NICU to a catchy riff on pet insurance fraud and keep it hilarious. The production brings to mind recent off-Broadway turns by comedians Alex Edelman and Kate Berlant, but with more songs about trees that smell like semen.
You’ll leave wishing these songs were on Spotify for instant re-listens. A midway showstopper comes with a Dear Evan Hansen inspired jam, parodying that musical right down to the phone screens flying across the walls. The finale, co-written by the always ingenious Shaina Taub, is also good fun.
For fans of Bloom, this is an obvious must-see. But anyone who loves a good laugh should not miss this either. The small theater size makes every seat a good one and provides an intimate feel. Rachel’s talent as a performer is even clearer when you can see the extreme expressiveness of her face. And with a 7pm start time, you can be in bed by 9, every working New Yorker’s dream.
Find more information and tickets HERE.
TV and City 