Chris Harcum

By Martin Denton, NYTHEATRE

The performances I will remember for a long time include:

• Jane Fonda in 33 Variations
• James Spader and David Alan Grier in Race
• Mercedes Ruehl in The American Plan
• Geoffrey Rush in Exit the King
• Chris Harcum and Kyle Haggerty in The Hypochondriac

Forgive the gush of hyperbole, but I believe that The Hypochondriac may very well be the funniest play in New York right now. You may as well check it out, to see for yourself whether I'm right.

This is the latest incarnation of a contemporary re-imagining of Moliere's 1673 farce Le Malade Imaginaire undertaken by director Matthew AJ Gregory and three collaborators, Shira Gregory (his wife), Chris Harcum, and Greg Tito. (Their work, which respects the original's framework but brings the piece thoroughly up to date, is based on a 19th century prose translation by Charles Heron Wall.) I saw this team's last version, then called The Imaginary Invalid, back in July. Gregory and his colleagues have used the intervening months well to tighten, focus, re-tool and recast the play, and the result is splendid. And hilarious...

The Hypochondriac is about Mr. Argan, a seemingly fit and clearly well-to-do middle-aged man who has decided that he is very, very ill. He allows his medical team, led by a formidable quack named Dr. Purgon, to keep him on a constant regimen of pills, tests, and enemas: he's addicted not so much to particular medications as to the idea of being medicated. He is, in short, a very foolish man, and in the person of co-adaptor Chris Harcum, he is a deliciously funny one to spend time with. Harcum brings a deep empathy for this fellow's problems and a clown's broad and fearless physicality. Watch him will himself into having a seizure, or suddenly feel an onset of avian flu, or, best of all, slide down a full flight of stairs after a scuffle with members of his household. This is a brilliant comic performance...

The Hypochondriac, offered at indie theater prices in a delightful intimate setting at the Cell in Chelsea, is as grand and glorious a farce as I've ever seen. It deserves the exposure that a long run on Broadway would give it, and maybe some insightful producer will check it out and make that happen. Till then, it's a highlight of the indie fall season. If you're in the mood to laugh a lot, this may be the best medicine to take.

-Martin Denton, NYTHEATRE

These messages were interesting and relevant, but for me, the real joy of the show was witnessing a kind of comedic brilliance that we don't see frequently in modern shows. Maybe I'm nerd because I think Moliere is hilarious, but this cast brought the work to life with the perfect blend of vaudevillian slapstick, tight delivery and genuine acting chops. Moliere's characters are stereotypes, but in The Hypochondriac, they become real in a way that is simultaneously comfortingly familiar and piercingly refreshing. In short: I LOVED LOVED LOVED this show for its ability to entertain, offer social commentary, and remind me of how essential classical theatre is... Harcum is impetuous and determined as Argan, rising to the tremendous challenge of playing the ass and victim in a troupe full of willful characters.

-Rachel Balik, Wicked Witch of the Web and PopMatters

Of course, true fans of comedy might do that simply upon finding a passable production of Moliere; this takes it a step further by updating The Imaginary Invalid to modern times. As a result, this satire has bite again: in fact, its teeth are so sharp that some bits--like Justin Stasiw's videos of late-night medical commercials--come across more as accurate imitations than spoofs. (Though part of that's the fault of over-the-top conditions in America today.)

Those "teeth" have also been further sharpened by the crew of adapters, from the director Matthew A. J. Gregory to actors Shira Gregory and Chris Harcum, and the playwright Greg Tito... Everyone brings a unique skill to the table, and that helps them both to identify the crucial bits and to cram them full of the little lazzis that make commedia dell'arte so quick and fun. Furthermore, they know when to call it quits--knowing that their audience is likely to already agree with their belittlement of overpriced, overprescribed health "care," they focus more on characters and zingers than on belaboring or "proving" their points....Last, but certainly not least, as the childish Argan, Harcum has the hard task of remaining interesting, blathering on as he does about enemas; yet he does, using the double-take on himself, whenever he realizes, mid-rant, that he's supposed to be sick. (In his best moment, after tumbling down a flight of stairs, he continues to rage for a minute before suddenly realizing he's fallen.)

-Aaron Riccio, That Sounds Cool

American Badass (or 12 Characters in Search of a National Identity)

The subtitle of American Badass is "12 Characters in Search of a National Identity," and that encapsulates this terrific show quite nicely. In it, writer-performer Chris Harcum portrays these dozen different people (plus a few more in inter-sketch interludes), and he zeroes in on much of what constitutes the "American character," circa 2008. For its wit, its intelligence, its fearlessness, and the great skill with which it is executed, this is a standout show, not just at FRIGID New York, but of this still-new theatre year.

Harcum begins by disarming us, portraying some supposed acquaintance of his who is reacting to the idea of a one-man show called American Badass. This armchair performance artist proceeds to explain what would be good and what would be lousy in a show like this, and it's hilarious but it's also way too true for comfort as he talks about how the show needs to be somewhat, but not too, relevant because you don't want to bore the audience or risk offending them.

Luckily, Harcum disregards his own first character's advice and treads boldly into terrain that seldom gets play on stage or screen these days. One of the vignettes is about a retired George W. Bush in the near future, playing golf and reminiscing about that fateful day when the Twin Towers were hit by airplanes and he was trying to decide what he ought to do in that Florida classroom. Another is about an American mercenary who works for Blackwater, back from Iraq and trying to pick up a woman in a bar by impressing her with tales of his bravado in combat ("I'm Superman," he tells her, bragging that bullets never seemed able to penetrate him). A third depicts a one-time military interrogator who is trying to repent his acts of torture via the services of a dominatrix.

Some of the pieces are much more lighthearted, such as the one about a "competitive eater" in training for the Coney Island hot-dog-eating contest. And in the first segment, Harcum demonstrates some really dazzling talent as he explores the notion of a one-man stage combat show. This bit is not just spectacularly impressive physical theatre, but extremely funny as well.

But American Badass is purposeful theatre, and the last piece-in which a character who may well be Harcum himself announces to a small but swelling crowd on the sidewalk that now that he's old enough to be President of the U.S., he feels like he needs to figure out what needs to be done to fix our obviously ailing Union-brings this socially conscious artist's concerns right to the fore. The show is always provocative but never polemical, reminding us that political/protest theatre still has the power to arouse us.

Harcum, a fine actor and writer, is well-supported by director Bricken Sparacino and a design team that provides him with appropriate quick-change costumes and a projected backdrop of drawings, graphics, and video to keep the piece flowing interestingly. (There's also a short film by Evan Stulberger in which Harcum talks about his real-life day job as a teaching artist in a Bronx public school; sort of a gentle rebuttal to Nilaja Sun's No Child, it seemed to me.)

It's not easy making an audience laugh and think at the same time, but Harcum accomplishes exactly that throughout American Badass. It's a combination that I highly recommend."

-Martin Denton, NYTHEATRE

Some Kind of Pink Breakfast

"An excellent, charismatic storyteller, playwright-performer Chris Harcum dives into his one-hour journey back to high school with warmth, humor, and loads of fun '80s references. Trying to decide whether or not he should go to his 20-year reunion, he recalls his most awkward moments, from being bullied as a five-foot, 98-pound sophomore to his first sexual experiences with an emotionally unstable 17-year-old girl. His only prop is a chair that, among other ingenious uses, cleverly stands in for his girlfriend during sex."

-Angela Ashman, The Village Voice

**Pick**

"Love them or hate them, the characters in John Hughes movies like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink have achieved both iconic and camp stature. For those not enamored of the Hughes oeuvre, Chris Harcum's one-man show Some Kind of Pink Breakfast, billed as going "where John Hughes wouldn't dare," might cause shudders. It shouldn't. Harcum relives his 1980s high school experiences by invoking these films and other period cultural references and giving them a Southern Gothic spin. The combination-and his rich, humane portrayal of a dozen or so characters-thoroughly charms."

-Andy Propst, Backstage

"The piece isn't just an '80s kitsch fest, however. The references are there to soften the blow of a sometimes poignant-and apparently true-story of a very awkward first romance between two outsiders, and how a relationship with a very troubled girl quickly overwhelmed the 15-year-old Harcum. It's a comment about how the happy, perky image we have of high school doesn't even come close to the chaotic and confusing reality that many of us faced-and ultimately survived. Under the direction of Bricken Sparacino, Harcum nimbly takes on numerous characters in the piece...His energy is so contagious...."

-Kimberly Wadsworth, NYTHEATRE

"...Using only a wooden folding chair as a prop and backed by sound effects, he creates various locations, from school to the family dinner table to his girlfriend's car at a make-out spot. Harcum embodies his teenage self as well as the kids, relatives, and authority figures in his world, switching between personas by using a different accent and body posture. He gets the essence of these people across without the manic antics or slavery to perfection that mark lesser solo performers. Moreover, there's something so natural and honest about his acting; he puts up no emotional barriers between himself and his audience, which makes his storytelling all the more affecting and effective...."

-Lauren Snyder, offoffonline

"This is a very hard show to pull off, even if there had been an ensemble to shoulder the load, so the fact that Harcum is able to do it alone makes his work one of the most vital stage performances of the year...."

-Doug Strassler, offoffonline

"For a refresher course on what the catch phrase 'thinking outside of the box' really means, check out Some Kind of Pink Breakfast. It's stripped-down, flesh-and-blood entertainment, served raw without condiments. And one of the best times I've had in ages. The centerpiece of the production is an impressive one-man show written and performed by the ingenious Chris Harcum. Filled to overflowing with references to the 1980s and the decade's coming-of-age movies, the semi-autobiographical piece is a whirlwind of insight and emotion...But Harcum has created more than just a vehicle for his acting talent. "Pink Breakfast" is a lyrical prose-poem that captures the bizarre transitional time that is adolescence. Using only a chair as a prop...Harcum spins a tale that is original in its wit and fervor, universal in its theme and appeal."

-D.L. Hintz, StyleWeekly Magazine

Mahamudra (or Postconsumer Waste Recycled Paper)

"...In the end Roy completes a journey of self-discovery and frees his mind of its burdens. (Hence the title of the show, Mahamudra.) Mahamudra is a Buddhist theory in which, simply stated, we learn to deconstruct the walls we build up in our minds. The point being that the mahamudra must be experienced and this is exactly what happens to Roy. He realizes that (here I paraphrase Harcum's brilliant script) he's driven all of his friends away by trying to be better than them so they would love him. Harcum's words are those of a man who is searching for personal enlightenment and wishes to share this search with others. I enjoyed his descent into his own nightmare and I came away thinking about ways that I too judge myself and others too harshly. Harcum is a very engaging and emotional performer. His ability to juxtapose his dream world and reality is very impressive...his script is astute and intuitive...."

-Richard Hinojosa, NYTHEATRE

"Harcum is a seasoned solo performer and this newest piece is well worth the price of the ticket...In this charming 30-minute comedy, Harcum plays Roy, a theater critic who suddenly finds himself onstage, livid when the solo performer he's come to see fails to show. Ironically, even as he rants against the proliferation of solipsistic one-person shows in the theater, Roy embarks on his own one-man confessional, recounting a disastrous (and weirdly fatal) breakup that led to a commentary, examining both the profession of a critic and also the nature and, dare I say, morality breakdown, followed by his entry into the acting profession.

Mahamudra, directed with finesse by Bricken Sparacino, is a shrewd, if still in-process, piece of comedy and, of being judgmental. Harcum, as Roy rants and raves, demonstrates an intensity that borders on the 'no-holds- barred' that more than amply fills the intimate Brick Theater. In this intimacy, though, one also sees the most charming aspect of Harcum's style - the ability to be warmly human and exceedingly vulnerable. As a critic, I felt, as well I should, lightly and lovingly chided by Mahamudra. As a member of the human race, Harcum's piece reminded me that the mental 'tick sheet' I carry every day may not always serve the best purpose."

-Andy Propst, American Theater Web

Gotham Standards

"Writer/performer Chris Harcum's Gotham Standards is about the places we escape to so that we can live, when it seems the world around us is dying. At once, powerful and insightful, Harcum's show is a 75-minute solo tour-de-force that is something to be seen...."

-Seth Duerr, NYTHEATRE

"Gotham Standards is an electrifying one-person exploration into the minds of various modern day men of all ages and backgrounds. The new work showcased a talented writer and performer in a unique show that reminded us that in the beginning of every boy's young life Batman came first. The dialogue is funny, fresh and full of depth...Harcum displays a wonderful consistency with his talent for dialect where most of his fellow American actors would falter."

-Jade Esteban Estrada, off-off Broadway Review

"Gotham Standards is one of the most appealing pieces of Fringe theatre I've ever seen. Chris Harcum possesses a uniquely unified sensibility that plays with paradox...He deploys all the best tools in the one-person-show arsenal-- his self-deprecating, "we're among friends"-type introduction then blasts into an exhilarating showcase of boldly-painted characters that sometimes directly, sometimes elliptically, circle a gnostically-strange-and-beautiful central motif. Harcum is able to be very personal, but avoids being embarrassing; the poignant moments in the midst of hard-edged comedy are never injected or contrived...Harcum is special in his affirmatives to all of the above, evidence of a richly gifted writer/performer. Gotham Standards is smart, funny, edgy, angry, silly, and sad-- utterly and transcendentally human. Not to be missed."

-Dalton Cormier, Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal

"...So who was the best Batman, Chris asks his audience...Harcum has an innate gift for dialect and impression, an ability that makes every character he morphs into completely believeable, no matter how outrageous they might seem to be on the surface. Hs verbal talents are so matched by his movement skills that the audience can believe he IS all those characters, and not just an actor playing them...And Harcum' s spot-on sense of comic timing will-even when you're not laughing, which is often-have you smiling throughout. And you will keep smiling, albeit with a bit of mist in your eye, as Harcum's "15 seconds" of introsepction comes to an end and he says a final goodbye...Chris Harcum has accomplished a true tour-de-force, not only showcasing his many acting skills, but his marvelous writing abilities."

-Robin Chase, The Phantom Fringer (Winnipeg, Manitoba)