So last, and certainly least, of the shows I saw on my recent trip to New York was Jay Johnson: The Two and Only. Again, as I mentioned in a previous post, I saw this show for three reasons: because I had two hours to kill before seeing The Little Dog Laughed, because it was a cold and windy Sunday night, and because I had never been inside the Helen Hayes Theater.
You may remember Johnson as Chuck (and Bob) on the TV series "Soap." Well, Jay Johnson is without question a talented performer. He's not only a talented ventriloquist, but a reasonably funny comedian as well. Rather than just doing his shtick, Johnson takes his hour-and-forty-minute show as an opportunity to relate the history of ventriloquism and to reveal his own path to becoming a ventriloquist. It's marginally interesting stuff, but hardly compelling.
The question is whether this is a show that really belongs on Broadway. A lot of the laughter is forced and much of the sentiment is maudlin. There are, however, some genuinely funny and moving moments in the show. But on the whole it feels more like a polished Vegas routine than a one-man Broadway show. Evidently, word has gotten around, and Johnson has been playing to roughly 25% capacity since he opened.
So if you're caught with two hours to kill on a cold and windy night and you've never seen the inside of the Helen Hayes (which is hardly an impressive site), you certainly could do worse than to take in Jay Johnson: The Two and Only. Or perhaps you're an inveterate fan of "Soap," and see it as your mission to take in every one-man show by former stars of that hysterical show. (I didn't see Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, but by all accounts it was quite a performance.) Otherwise, you might want to give this one a miss.
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