Comedian Judy Gold delivered an acerbic, politically-tinged set in Boca Raton this Sunday night
SHADE-O-METER RATING
4 OUTTA 5 WERKS: “SHE GAVE GOOD FACE – SHE SERVED IT”
Who is Judy Gold? According to her website,she’s a self-professed “comedian, actor, writer, host and big mouth.” Gold’s theater credits include both Broadway and several off-Broadway one-woman shows. Her film and TV credits predominately consist of scripted sitcoms and talk shows. She was also a writer and producer on The Rosie O’Donnell Show. What is Boca Black Box? Boca Black Box is a small theater in Boca Raton, Florida. How was the venue? A black box theater is an unadorned large, square performance space that typically has black walls and flat floor. The theater, nestled in a shopping mall, holds approximately 275 people. Because of its small size and unobstructed seating arrangement, there really wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The seats aren’t permanent. There was also a small amount of cocktail seating on both sides of the house. How was the parking? There was more than ample parking in the shopping plaza to accommodate a full house. Parking is free. There was no valet. However, minimal walking was required. Does the venue serve liquor? Yes. How were the drinks? The venue offered a fair amount of cocktails, wine and beer. The wait staff serves the beverages cabaret-style both before and during the show. The drinks are nothing fancy, and they’re a bit pricey. For example, a “Jim Beam and Coke” was $9. A domestic beer was $6.50. Does the venue serve food? No. How much were the tickets? $30 and $40.
How was the show? Some comedians, such as Bill Cosby or Lilly Tomlin, are known for delivering a non-interactive show that is more-or-less a one-person play. This was not what Miss Gold did. Her mostly self-deprecating set was initially composed of general themes such as politics (Donald Trump), therapy, anxiety, the challenges of parenting, the trappings of snobbery (such as the correct pronunciations of foreign words), and adverse effects from aging. Her set also contained a fair amount of gastronomic themes such as “doctor shopping” for medical conditions to justify weight gain, the absurdity of diet fads, and skepticism of restrictive diets (gluten-free). However, this was where the broad topics ended and the regional ones began. The rest of the show, approximately 40 percent of it, was composed of self-referential and regional humor such as “it’s nice to be at the ‘African American’ box theater,” mockery of the audience’s Jewish customs, ridiculing New York transplants, and discussing lousy drivers in Florida.
But Gold was probably at her best when she was at her least scripted and loudest. As the vitriol and volume increased, so did the reliance on the audience. A young lesbian couple was used as a catalyst to analyze emerging identities (“What is this ‘gender fluid’ thing? I didn’t even know what it was. I had a couple of kids, I ran to the bus to get them, and some gender fluid came out.”), late-arrivers were called-out (“You come late AND you sit in the fucking front row? No, it’s okay. Now get out your phones.”) and an older woman in the front row was continually harassed for either not laughing or for not comprehending certain parts of the show. Even the venue’s owner didn’t escape Gold’s irritation—“You have to make that fucking noise with your chair? And this is the owner everyone.”
How was the crowd? The venue was barely half-full. However, most of the crowd appeared to be direct fans of Gold, so they knew what they were in for. But one need look no further than Michael Richards’ 2006 rant at The Laugh Factory to see how precarious the relationship can be between comedian and the audience. For instance, you could hear a few people hold their breath in anticipation when Gold’s previously mentioned “victim” in the front row—fed-up from being singled-out—sassed back at Gold, asking, “do you have a problem?” Gold responded that she had many. What could have improved the show? It seems that Gold might have sold herself short by performing for, what appeared to be, a largely-pastoral crowd. A better venue for her edgy and sometimes crude humor (a lengthy story about a voice audition for an “irritated vagina” comes to mind) might have been a more urban one that caters to a younger crowd. What was surprising about the show? She told her coming-out story for the first time.
Boca Black Box is located at 1721 North Andrews Ave., in Boca Raton, Florida.
