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Standup is overdoing it, showing yourself in the raw – and it has for a long time he attracted dramatists attention is the face we give and hide to each other. That looks like an episode of I’m Not Funny, Too, as we meet two young parents getting ready in their living room for open mic night. Peter wants to tell corny jokes; Billie wants to tell stories about her – well, theirs life. The question is about using and abusing the humor of the arena, but that is not, in the end, what we get.
I’m not sure Piers Black’s play marries its beginnings with what it ends up being. There is something different about the two of them practicing comedy together. Are they preparing the only opportunities – the top “five hard”, as Peter says? (He complains that he has “two loose ends”.) Or is he creating two events? This question is very important when the play reaches its saddest point, after explaining several interesting things.
Directed by Bryony Shanahan, and with contributions from young child Ruby through a child monitor, stars Jerome Yates and Tia Bannon shift tonal graces, as skillfully as they provide Black’s rookie tools while nursing emotional wounds. The relationship is compellingly drawn, as Billie encourages her husband to look in comedy for what he hides in real life. When the pain comes, it’s very funny (see the hospital’s droll elevator anecdote), and there’s a bit of ’90s fun as the two reminisce about their happy encounter.
But the longer it takes, the more the drama continues to sneer at the trainees – funny – despite revealing why these dysfunctional parents are giving way, which feels contrived. We are far from a solid game at the end of these 90 minutes, which clearly reflects the game’s theme and intensity. You are left with a drama that affects us to this day with its questions about humor such as safety, or success, tragedy, while it takes us into the hearts of a family that is looking at the worst possible outcome in front of us.
