The News Line - UK - REVIEW

theatre

NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THE MASCOT'S THINKING

by

In the changing room fro the Red Pet Bulls, a university baseball team, music is throbbing through the speaker system.

Blue Moose, Bruno 01 to be precise, bursts into the space and completes a full routine of dances in his splendid suit.

He even commences a strip routine, taking off his shirt to reveal his orange curly chest hair. The accomplished act completed the incumbent inside the suit emerges--it is a hot and stuck young man who swigs from a water bottle only to hear, "Yes children, the mascot will be with you any moment" over over the speakers.

The chaos that ensues as he tries to get back into the suit in a hurry is very funny.

Eventually he decides not to bother with the appearance--hoping that he won't be sacked!

Collapsing onto a stool and discarding the suit completely, performer Jordan Herskowitz reveals that he is 22 and is the author of this autobiographical one-man show.

He had started mascotting when at school.

Four years later he had a sex change and became Bruno 01. "When I'm the mascot," he says "no one can know what I'm thinking."

He uses it as an escape from his family--his mum (called Barbie!), his father, who has a fear of broccoli, his doting grandparents, who insist on calling him pet names--even when he's asked them not to, his irritating baby sister and his elder and younger brothers, both who suffer from cystic fibrosis, the younger one having had a double-lung transplant.

Now remember it is only one actor who plays all these parts--from grandmother to girlfriend, and how wittily and deftly he does it. Superbly observed caricatures executed with precision. A performance masterpiece.

An entertaining piece of theatre with rich, thought-provoking, material and a strong message about the value of life and organ donorship.

Goodness knows what the next twenty two years of his life will contain!

BBC Interview Available To Listen Online

Listen to my interview with BBC correspondent Judi Herman about my one-man show! When you click the link, click the button at the top "New! JR Out Loud!" and it will take you to the page with the article/interview.

http://www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk/

Shut that kid up!

The London Times has released the "15 Golden Rules to Theatre Etiquette". And man, aren't they the truth! After performing to audiences around England, it would be nice if every UK citizen was required to read this article, and then to obey the rules. Go on, read it yourself, and follow the rules! (And come see the show.)

The 15 Golden Rules to Theatre Etiquette

I Suck at Blogging

But that is about to change, my loyal one or two followers! I'm tired of getting slack from my friends (mostly just my cousin, Phillip) for never updating this. The truth is, I'm always writing a new blog post in my head, but I'm just never at a computer. Then, when I get to the computer, I become more engrossed in work-related tasks (like checking facebook), that I never get around to posting! But today is a new day: and you can hold me to it that I will blog much more often! Thanks for the support.

The Jewish Chronicle is a Bunch of Bull

I've really tried to refrain myself from trash-talking London critics. Actually, I've been lucky enough to not have to worry about that, since I've had pretty good reviews. But I can't hold myself back today. So, if this post pisses my rabbi off, I'm sorry, but I'm emotionally fueled right now---and Judaism would want me to express that!

I picked up "The Jewish Chronicle" today. It's a weekly publication that goes all around the country. It's a nice paper, well put together and has good stories. I've been picking one up every week to see when my review would be printed. Turns out it was today! Yay! Well, sort of. You can't read the review online, so I'll (forcefully) re-type it below:

JORDY PORDY

* *

by John Nathan

Jordan Herskowitz was born and raised in Texas and spent a good deal of his late teens as Bruno the bull, the mascot for a baseball team. It allows for a neat metaphor about identity for his rights-of-passage autobiographical solo show.

But there is scant detail here about why being a Jew in the lone star state is a big or difficult deal.

He needs to strip away the conventional teen angst stuff about himself and write more about his family--who he entertainingly performs--and his brother, who lived and tragically died with cystic fibrosis. And he needs to do it quickly before he takes his show to Edinburgh.

So, there it is. Look, it's not a terrible review. It's just frustrating to get a review like that when I'm putting myself on the line night after night performing such a personal show. The original POINT of the show was to be a self-identity piece, and the things that I share from my teenage years were formative in becoming the person I am today. And did I say that being Jewish in Texas was a BIG deal? No, I said Texas was BIG. And that it took me awhile to connect to my religion. Just happened that I was in Texas.

But, as my friend Chris always says, it's fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. One bad review won't ruin me. But to celebrate the publication, feel free to post some bad-mouthing comment to jump-start your fun weekend!

Even this Jewish bull dog is confused with the review.

The London REVIEWS

Ahh! Although I've performed my show numerous times in the US and Africa, performing my month-long run in London is the first time the show has ever been reviewed by critics. I think getting reviewed is scary for any performer, now add on that the performer is the writer and director as well, and I basically get scared shitless.

I'm happy to report that all of my reviews have been really, really good! Well, except one. We will get to that soon. Because some of the reviews are just in print and not online, I'll create a list of excerpts for you to easily peruse.

The Reviews:

"A performance masterpiece." - Newsline UK

" * * * * " - Ham & High

"A story worth sharing." - Time Out

"A brave debut from a talented, versatile performer." -

The Stage

"Engaging from beginning to end." - Camden New Journal

"Absolutely incredible!" - JCom Radio

Here are links to some of the reviews

available to read online:

The Stage

The Camden New Journal

Time Out London

London: The Half-Way Point

Today marks the beginning of Week 3 of our 4-week long stint at the New End Theatre in London. It's an odd check-in point. It feels like I've been here for months, but then it also feels like time's been flying.

I think the month of June spoiled Stacie and me. We were able to do a bit of traveling around Europe, and our show performances were part of festivals that organized everything for us. Now, in London, I perform Tuesday-Sunday, a total of 28 shows. Although the theatre has done marketing and reviews have been quite good, we still don't have a large captivated audience that we can bring in each night to see the show. Our target audience: London. We've tried flyering, but it seems that most people just want a picture with me dressed up as the mascot then actually coming out to see the show. We've put up posters in shops and restaurants. We've flyered cars in the parking lot. (I've always hated when people put things on my car, yet now I've become one of them!) All in all, as my dear friend Jessica reminds me, just getting a small number of people to come out each night to see a show about some American guy who nobody knows in England is quite remarkable. And as my other dear friend Shana reminds me, every artist goes through some sort of hurdle like this, and only after you can power through it can you really reap the benefits.

Wow, this blog post has quickly turned into a cheesy downer, huh? I'm having an amazing time here and I've realized in the past couple of weeks that performing the show night after night is exactly what I want and what I should be doing right now in my life. So, if I have to live off a couple baguettes everyday as my food intake, fine!

I thought this picture adequately describes this post. Sorry if it's too frightening for you.

Our London Flat!