"I'm Not Just A Comic Genius" lives up to its name

“I'm Not Just A Comic Genius” - the latest play by Art Shulman, is aptly titled.  The veteran storyteller weaves bold and outrageous comedy into a dry and strained familial relationship as David(Morry Schorr) and his daughter Judith (Michele Tannen) try to piece their lives back together after the passing of David’s wife (Judith’s mother). Housebound since her death, David is encouraged by his daughter to take up writing plays. 

“I'm Not Just A Comic Genius” evolves in a series of diverse, hysterical, edgy one act plays framed by the subsequent evolution of a father-daughter relationship.

Shulman’s versatility as a writer is showcased in this fast-moving, precisely executed play - it is effectively seven or eight different plays wound into a single story. It is hilarious, disturbing, superbly written and immediately engaging. The dialogue is tight, the acting spot on. Loren Ledesma delivers particularly memorable performances in all of her vivacious incarnations. 

Duane Taniguchi and Jerry Weil move fluidly and believably between characters.  Karen Knotts transforms herself into the core of every role.

Truly, Shulman’s genius is revealed in the final act, when David performs a passage about his own eminent mortality; a monologue that leaves the audience powerless against their own tears.

Shulman provides his audience the full spectrum of emotional experience while demonstrating a boundless capacity for creating scene and situation.  The props are minimal.  The cast is intimate.  The result is an intense dramady.

“I’m Not Just A Comic Genius” contains adult material throughout the swift-flowing play. It will leave you emotionally alive and in awe of Shulman’s creative depth.  A masterful work.

“I’m Not Just A Comic Genius” runs through July 27 at the Secret Rose Theatre in North Hollywood’s Arts District.  For more information call (818) 465-3213 or learn more online at www.AComicGenius.com