FringeNYC 2013: The Alexis Lambright Tell-A-Thon: Combating Adult Virginity
Alexis is on a mission to find a cure for individuals suffering from Chronic Virginity... starting with herself! This multimedia tell-a-thon will present awkward moments in her life, in hopes of achieving her goal. Operators are standing by!
Official production websiteShow details/ticketing at FringeNYC
Review by Garry Schrader · August 10, 2013
As far as I know, Jerry Lewis never actually contracted muscular dystrophy. So perhaps comic Alexis Lambright has even more at stake than Jerry in her staged telethon to rid the world of the blight of Adult Virginity—starting with herself.
The Alexis Lambright Tell-A-Thon is an hour-long free-form multimedia spree, in which the likeable and funny Ms. Lambright opens the phone lines, in the hopes that people—well, really, just men—and actually, preferably, just Donald Glover—will call with an offer to step up and become, in her word, the “devirginizer.”
In the course of the hour, Ms. Lambright weighs in on the causes of her virginity (is she too picky? or is the problem excessive sweating?), visits a virginity support group, tells some woeful true tales of dates gone wrong, sings a winning song to her celebrity crush (see above), and, personally my favorite part, conducts on video some very odd person-in-the-street interviews (“When was the fourth time you had sex on the Cyclone?”).
Not all of this works, and Ms. Lambright hasn’t yet fully honed her stage persona. Self-deprecating humor in any case is terribly hard to bring off—even a complete pro like Amy Schumer makes you cringe sometimes. But it scarcely matters. Under the zippy direction of John Kenneth Kelly and with the help of a couple of clearly non-virgin back-up dancers—and some sharp lighting and sound effects—Ms. Lambright finds the key to our hearts. Now if she could only lose it.
Preview: Interviews with Artists from The Alexis Lambright Tell-A-Thon: Combating Adult Virginity
We're asking artists from each show to answer questions about themselves and their work to help our readers get a detailed advance picture of the festival:
All About My Show · Alexis Lambright (Actor)
- Complete this sentence: My show is the only one in FringeNYC that...?
...will have people call in during live performances (hopefully)! - Tell us about the character or characters that you portray in this show.
I play myself, Alexis Lambright! I am on a mission to find a cure for individuals suffering from Chronic Virginity... starting with myself! This multimedia solo show/live telethon will present awkward moments in my life, in hopes of achieving my goal. - What moment or section in this show do you really love to perform? Without giving away surprises, what happens in that moment and why do you love it?
I perform a song dedicated to a celebrity crush of mine! It's a good time. - Which school or system of acting has been most useful to you in your career, and why (examples: The Method, Uta Hagen, Viewpoints, etc.)?
I'd have to say improvisational comedy has been most helpful to me, especially when writing this script. - What's your favorite pastime when you’re not working on a play?
I enjoy dancing like a fool. Lots of shoulder and hip isolations is what you'll find me doing. And a pretty terrible robot. Yup!
Gianfranco Lentini reviews Waiting For Waiting For Godot
“There’s nothing [everything] to be done” about Waiting for Waiting for Godot at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. Written by Dave Hanson and directed by...
Julie Congress reviews The Magic Mirror
The Magic Mirror, an opera with 14 singers and a live orchestra of seven (plus a conductor!), has a sound of a magnitude unlike any other FringeNYC show. Yet while an auditory...
Andrew Rothkin reviews The Young Olympians and The Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever
What do you get when you combine ancient Greek mythology with puppetry, pop
culture, a wacky quest, and some fun and catchy new tunes? If you’re the
talented cast and crew of The Maryland...
Jason S. Grossman reviews The Famous Play
Two actors appear on stage and post an enormous sign with the playwright's contact information. A narrator enters and identifies himself as the playwright and describes what the audience is...
Kimberly Wadsworth reviews unbidden
Geneticist Julia Lamb, the woman at the center of Joanne Hudson’s Unbidden, is something of a mess. While researching a study into the human genome, Julia (Chelsea Leigh Barrett)...
David Koteles reviews Marshall's Law
A man and a woman are locked in a basement. A basement where dark secrets seem to be kept, waiting to be revealed. We learn the man and woman used to be best friends, until he “stole”...
Fred Backus reviews Mercedes Benz Awkwardly
Arriving from Australia to help close out the 2013 New YorkInternational Fringe Festival in its final week is Mercedes Benz Awkwardly, a raucous one-woman comedy about a first time...
Bob Stewart reviews The TomKat Project
The TomKat Project by writer Brandon Ogborn is a great example, (by this reviewer) of a perfect FringeNYC Show. It has 7 players, (including the playwright as narrator) 7 chairs, a few...
Pamela Butler reviews The Unfortunates
The late 19th century in London’s East End was not a safe place for young women plying the trade of prostitution. Women who for one reason or another fell into desperate situations, were...
Robert Weinstein reviews Quake: A Love Story
Ain’t Real Theatre Company’s Quake: A Love Story begins in the basement of a sparring couple as they go through their collective possessions after a bitter separation....
Gianfranco Lentini reviews William
1592. The end of the Renaissance is rapidly approaching, and the Baroque period is about to take the stage. Henry VI (Parts I-III) has been publicly performed, and the audience cries for...
Mitchell Conway reviews And It Spins Twice
For those interested in contemplating the implications of string theory, And It Spins Twice is a good introduction to some of the concepts that are radically altering our understanding...
