MUST SEE: LBJ: The Play

A kooky comedy gets big laughs at Paradise Factory

Molly Serenduke

Let's face it. It's pretty dang rare for a show to be genuinely funny, and as if the business of comedy weren't hard enough, we live in a cultural climate that seems to side more often with those who arrested Lenny Bruce than the people who called for his release. One thing we're happy to report, though, is there's a play currently running at Paradise Factory that is funny, genuinely funny, and it's sure to provide you with a fun, care-free evening. 

Sunny Zimmerman's kooky, zany play about Lyndon B. Johnson is a hoot. Set in a middle school classroom on the day that you go to see the show, LBJ: The Play will have you chuckling even before it begins as you read the classroom posters that decorate the naturalistic set. The idea is that a middle school teacher, played by the convincingly anxious Katie Davis, is trying to teach her class - you, the audience - about the 1960's, so she hires an LBJ performer to demonstrate. There's some education that occurs, but mostly what unfolds is a slapstick gag-athon where you'll be perfectly content wondering what Sunny Zimmerman, Albert Muzquiz and Soraya Perry are capable of next, capable being the key word here. These actors don't get a break and boy do they earn the laughs they get.

Is this show a bit scrunched into the downstairs of Paradise Factory? Sure. Is it sometimes unclear whether something falling over is intended or accidental? Maybe. But what matters is there's enough working here that it doesn't drag and there's enough genuine laughter to make for a great evening. The never-ending costume changes combine with real comedic chops to create moments of laugh-out-loud funny as big as LBJ's… johnson. 

There are some nice points made about identity, but mostly this show is just a damn good time. A genuinely fun and funny night at the theater.