Spook Night

Are black standup comics brilliant or buffoons? This is the question posed by a new play called SPOOK NIGHT written by a former gag writer for Steve Harvey, T Faye Griffin. Through the eyes of the famed black entertainer Bert Williams, The dramedy shows uncensored view of the back stage of the backstage of a comedy club where the comics rib each other, compete fiercely, and often have very poignant stories to tell. All this happens on the so called “spook nights’ which developed in the ‘80s to showcase black comics whom the networks were gobbling up for their new boom of black sitcoms. All this disappeared and black comics fell on hard times and only a few ever made it while the rest would perform, some brilliantly, some embarrassingly, on the special nights reserved for them and their audiences at the comedy clubs. All this leads to humiliation and violence by one of the performers as he hold the others hostage while he rails against the buffoon nature of so much of today’s black humor. A fascinating study that raises some very serious issues, at the same time, the play is full of laughs.

The production values for the show are really excellent. The nightclub set by Joel David convincingly evokes a rather seedy club run by the excellent Alan Charof and Lauren Schipper who plays his daughter who longs for him to retire. The comics were all quite good and it’s hard to single them out but I particularly enjoyed Bill Lee Brown as Old Dog a veteran performer of indeterminate age. I also really enjoyed Steven Olson as a stuttering white newcomer who stumbles into spook night and provided many great moments. Mike Estime as the brash young comic (he is one in his real life), Nika Williams s the sexy standup who struggles in a male dominated world, and Paul A Hicks as minstrel man, all brought terrific energy to their respected roles. The only actor I had trouble with was Antonio D Charity but I don’t feel it was his fault but rather the fault of the writing. The way he was conceived I just couldn’t feel any compassion for him. There are a few other elements that need tweaking, but I hope this play has a good future. H.I.S. Ministries produced the play and they offer to pray for any member of the audience who would like to volunteer. While a nice gesture most of the audience made a quick exit.

Lillian Theatre 1076 North Lillian Way Hollywood CA 90038   323- 960- 4443 through Sept. 30