San Francisco Fringe 2019
Grief is Horny
Jonathan Euseppi (Chicago, IL)
Genre: Solo Show
Venue: EXIT Theatre
Festival: San Francisco Fringe
Low Down
“Jonathan Euseppi masterfully guides you through the pains of growing up in Grief is Horny. With the death of his father at 13 and a burgeoning sexuality Jonathan was stuck between grief and puberty. The family motto was, “I am fine, we are fine, everything is fine” but we all know that every family is humorously dysfunctional. Grief is Horny is a raw and hilarious adventure that guarantees a compelling evening of theater!”
Review
The white cat from Cats appears – you know, the one in the musical that dances so lyrically in the white catsuit, with full cat face makeup and wig! This show is not a musical and just a bit about cats – but it is a heartfelt and colorful story of a young boy growing up in Kansas, and his influences of all kinds that have made him who he is as an adult.
Created and performed by Jonathan Euseppi from Chicago, Euseppi is a very compelling performer who is always authentic and performs a range of characters from his youth.
Euseppi plays his volatile dad, a very influential person in his early life, his perfectionist mother, his brother and eccentric Aunt Michelle. He becomes each character very effectively by changing his voice and using natural and believable dialogue and shifts in physicality – all quickly, effectively and seamlessly. Vivid descriptions of each family member and details from typical family dialogue, and Euseppi’s observations are recreated in the writing, examples range from “Turn that shit off!” from his dad to “since when was reading noisy?” from his mother remarking on someone reading a magazine.
A wild imagination and realistic practicality brought out creative solutions and inventive strategies from a young Euseppi when he renames questionable films in his room to disguise them! Other topics include Deepak Chopra and Emanuelle.
Grief is Horny is a spirited adventure which is very well crafted and performed. An interesting technique that Euseppi uses is to move around the space in unexpected ways whether speaking or not, which is fascinating. There is much humor in this show, but there is also pathos and Euseppi does it all well. Some of the characters are so well drawn that we feel like we can envision them in front of us and Euseppi’s storytelling and crafting is so interesting that we want to hear more!
At one or two points tension and expectation of the outcome of a situation build and Euseppi is so engaging that we are on the edge of our seats, this is realistic and relatable stuff, we may have all been there!
Euseppi shares his family with the audience – the love, shame and secrets – and we mustn’t forget those visceral catch phrases!
