David Robson on Jennifer Blaine

Dear Jennifer,

I came to Mister John’s Music expecting a feminist comedy show, but nothing prepared this cis normie for the brash, silly, in-your-face hilarity of Raw Deal. Despite your 30 years of liberation-inspired merrymaking and vulgarity that make you a Philly Fringe legend, I was a Blaine virgin. Shame on me. But better late than never!

The disco ball and mustard-colored curtains set the perfect tone, and when you suddenly appeared before us a few minutes after eight, I strapped myself in for a ride, wherever it would take me. You quickly enticed with your cat love and desire to “modulate my rage,” because I’m right there with you, sister. There’s a lot to be furious about these days and you served it up with sizzle: from one famous comedian’s admission that he doesn’t read to our education secretary’s confusion about whether artificial intelligence or A1 steak sauce is going to kill us all. Your wit and generous spirit kept us all hooked with your insights on wage gaps, “she-roes” (Only men can be heroic?), and the monumental eyebrows of Brooke Shields.

You drew us out, baited us, and kept us connected, asking us to join in your reverie and quest for better orgasms. What fun it was to be drawn into your world! Yet, as with the best sex, you gave as well as received through lively call-and-response and quick-change physical gags. At other times, your Emily Post reminded all of us how to behave (or not) and Camille Paglia, brought to us with an assist from stringy, clip-on hair, hectored us from her ivory tower.

Yet my favorite characters were the most unexpected: the Frau Blücher-esque German tour guide reading us a fractured fairy tale, your Russian grandmother Pauline who did everyone’s laundry for six decades and put all her kids through college, and Ruth, the little old lady who told the dirtiest jokes in the cutest possible ways. As a writer participating in his first Philly Fringe, Raw Deal left me in awe of your imagination, resilience, and courage. Congratulations on your 30 years of shows. Fringe on, Jennifer, fringe on!

David

Jennifer Blaine is the Creator/Performer of Raw Deal.

David Robson is the Playwright of Without Consent.