Murray Hill - About To Break (at Joe's Pub) - New York City Article

Joe’s Pub At The Public Presents
“Murray Hill: About To Break”
Created & Performed By Murray Hill
Directed By Scott Wittman
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St
September 20-22 & 27-29

“Sorry, there’s no fourth wall here tonight - we couldn’t afford one!” Murray Hill is the Billy Tipton of comedy, but although the gender disruption inherent in this act might be very 21st century, the content itself is strictly old school. As in: “My girlfriend doesn’t need glasses, she drinks right out of the bottle.” “Murray Hill” harkens back to a time when stand-up comics were classified as “entertainers,” and like singers, usually performed with a piano and sometimes even a whole band - in Mr. Hill’s case, a quartet plus two rather shopworn backup vocalists. Like the great Joe E. Lewis, much of the act is sung - there’s about five songs, some are by the director, Scott Wittman, one of the major songwriters of contemporary Broadway, but all are “special material.” Mr. Hill starts out on the offense, quickly launching into a Don Rickles-like barrage of insults (all effectively underscored by drummer Howie Gordon, and not just on the rimshots) directed against those of us in the first rows. (If you were there on Saturday night, I was the bald guy with a bow tie who is neither gay nor European.) But as the 90-minute set nears its conclusion, the mood becomes more and more introspective, and most of the humor deprecates the artist himself rather than the crowd. (“My shrink told me to masturbate, but the problem is I’m not attracted to myself.”) Closer to the end, he starts into a Sinatra-like saloon song with a twist ending (no spoiler alert here) and then winds up with a “My Way”-inspired anthem of self-affirmation. “Showbiz!”

Mr. Murray Hill with “The Early Bird Specials” (Paul Leschen, piano, musical director; Scott Kreitzer, reeds; Frank Canino, bass; Howie Gordon, drums) and “Murray Hill’s Golddiggers” (a very game Frieda Williams and Francis Asher).

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https://joespub.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/Joes-Pub/2018/M/Murray-Hill/?SiteTheme=JoesPub