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The Social Affair

nytheatre.com review by Eric Beckson
August 15, 2005

The six men and women who perform in The Social Affair, as well as the non-performing co-executive producers Michelle MaClay and Tasha Space, collaborate to write and direct a dozen comedy sketches running 71 minutes.Billy Wood kicks off the show with a silly dance routine reminiscent of the little old man dancing in the ubiquitous Six Flags theme park commercial. Later, he demonstrates his versatility in a spot-on impersonation of Rodney Dangerfield. With his timing and charisma, he is obviously a veteran of the comedy club circuit.Theron Steiner (short balding white guy wearing glasses) seems like the antithesis of a hip-hop performer. But his rap sketch is sneaky funny, as he drifts off into lyrics from light rock. In another sketch, his vulgar haiku about bodily functions and anatomy flops. (Being disgusting is only a promising start in comedy.)Matt McCarthy is very funny as an Irish Catholic priest taking roll call at a public school. Facing the audience, he mangles the students’ names as he interacts with them (we hear only his side of the conversation). McCarthy’s nave, sheltered disposition contrasts with the ethnic diversity of the student body.Michael Muldoon has the good looks and poise of a successful model or actor. He might even be funny if he wasn’t doing the played-out "weekend update" routine or Darth Vader at a job interview (promising, but goes nowhere). Batman as a night club comedian is funnier due to the innovative use of props.I’m still wondering if "Mein Eggs" is funny. Jenny Rubin reads Mein Kampf as if she were reading Dr. Seuss to children. Alternating, Matt McCarthy reads Dr. Seuss like Hitler giving a speech at Nuremburg. And that’s the sketch! It’s another study in contrast—short and straightforward. Jenny Rubin, in another sketch, plays a male movie director from the studio era, but the cliche of a fast talking, demanding Hollywood character kills the piece.Allen Warnock plays a bizarre spectacle of a human being, first as an intentionally bad auditioning actor (very grating), and the other as a CEO giving a pep rally to employees. Mr. Warnock is a gifted comic actor. Just a curl of the lip or a sideways glance from him can make one smile. The auditioning actor sketch simply goes on too long without variation, while the CEO sketch is burdened by the cliche of a money-hungry corporate sleazebag.The youngest members of the audience roared with laughter in the first fifteen minutes, and then settled down to moderate, sporadic laughter. I laughed much less; hardly, in fact. I’ve seen sketch and standup comedy for a long time, so by now I must be hardboiled.