FringeNYC 2013: The Great iii Am

Review by Erin Layton · August 11, 2013

Upon entering SubCulture—the fabulous FringeNYC venue/bar in the basement of The Culture Project where Matt Graham performs his one person show The Great iii Am directed by Darren Lee Cole—the ambiance, music (Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For the Devil”) and smartly designed set by Launa Eddy, strewn with random scrabble pieces, a chalkboard and a skeleton seated at what appears to resemble a chess table, “sets the stage” for what could either be a magic show, classroom lecture or interactive stand-up comedy routine. Or it could be a game show with two attractive young woman walking around in tightly fitted dresses and high heels handing out blank index card assignments to the audience for a special treat at some point during Matt’s routine. Or all of the above. My general assumption is that we will be entertained by a master wordsmith exhibiting his craft in ways that will utilize everything that we’ve seen, heard and experienced up until lights go up.

Matt Graham is a World-Champion Scrabble Professional. He’s also a stand-up comedian known for his “non stand-up stand-up” style. He introduces his routine as a part lecture, part seminar (or seminary) “manic, messianic mess” involving his long-term and complicated relationship with the game Scrabble. At first, he lectures his audience on how to become a Scrabble professional, which includes quirky, personal anecdotes about living below the poverty line, dropping out of high school, recovering from alcoholism and pursuing a hobby that keeps suicide attempts at bay. Once you’ve reached the level of prodigy that Matt has, he then advises playing Scrabble for money against a “sucker”— specifically the overtly proud and wealthy business tycoons who you can almost always guarantee will lose. Matt’s humor is frequently dark, hopeless, awkward and slightly on the brink of a manic episode as he cautions in his introduction.

Every now and then, the two lovely female assistants played by Rachel Cora (Constance) and Anna Ilina (Jaqqy) break up Matt’s routine and join him on stage as representations of a larger narrative involving personal battles with temptation and faith. At one point, all three actors play out a scene similar to the temptation of Christ with Matt being the Christ figure. It isn’t until the women arrive on stage that any concrete personal narratives about his relationships, with women or faith, come into play and even then, it isn’t clear how all of these narratives and anecdotes fit together.

Although I can appreciate the improvisational nature of stand-up comedy, I honestly don’t know if the show that I saw will be the same show tomorrow or the day after. After the first half hour of The Great iii Am, it seemed as though Matt was aimlessly trying to cram the remainder of his routine with a litany of credits and stories that had no logic or rationale, frequently staring at the ground in what seemed to me a desperate search for lost material. I felt like I was on a bad first date without an exit strategy.

Overall, I did enjoy some of Matt’s initial non stand-up stand-up routine but I frequently wondered if we were ever actually going to see him play Scrabble. I anticipated witnessing a prodigy woo his audience with his charismatic charm but all I got was the illogical ramblings of someone who slipped into becoming a World-Class Championship Scrabble player as an alternative to blowing his brains out. But maybe that was the point.

His final tirade had to be cut off with a blackout mandated by the venue for going over time. There was a bit too much scramble to make this Scrabble a win.