By Shari Barrett
You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate Monica Piper’s stories about growing up in a Not That Jewish family where love and compassion for others was the daily golden rule. And even though she never really went to temple, her close-knit Jewish family made sure Monica understood that she was a shayna maidel (pretty girl) and could do anything with her life. So of course, like me, she got through high school and went on to college to become a high school English teacher! After all, that was expected for a good Jewish girl in the mid-20th Century. That and getting married to a Jewish boy, raising kids, and creating your own loving family.
As Monica shares many tales from her life experience, both at home, on the stage, and in TV writers’ rooms, her sense of humor acquired via her father always inspires lots of laughs – something we all need right now and always. And that sense of humor during the darkest of times is what launched many careers of Jewish comedians, much like Monica’s father who took his family on the road as he played in small clubs around the country as well as in the Catskills. It was the best training a young girl with a sense of humor and the chutzpah to speak her mind could have gotten to launch herself into show biz.
Now an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning comedy writer for many well-known sitcoms and the popular children’s show Rugrats, Monica is also a cancer survivor and dedicated Mom to her adopted son Jake, whose very presence in her life turned Monica into the type of Jewish mother we would all be proud to have, “except when a teen-AGER,” according to Monica. Stories from her entire life experience form a hilarious and heartwarming autobiographical blend of stand-up and storytelling in Not That Jewish.
While I don’t want to give away the jokes which kept the audience laughing from start to finish, I will share a few to inspire you to grab a ticket and hear the rest. For instance, after being accused by a school friend Carol of not being Jewish since she did not go to temple on Rosh Hashanah, that staying home and making chopped liver entitled her to being Jewish. So now when she says, “What am I, chopped liver?” her answer is always a resounding “YES.” And, as she was told by her Mom, “Yes, you are because you have a Jewish heart, and of course we’re democrats!” That got quite a laugh, given the political times we are living in this week. Again, it’s laughter in the bitter darkness of despair that makes a Jewish heart value love and humor all the more.
Monica uses lots of Yiddish phrases in the show, which roll off the tongue for those of us familiar with the language of our ancestors. But don’t worry as she always interprets the meaning for those unfamiliar with the overly-demonstrative language that often embellishes deeper meaning into actions and emotions. And you must always remember, as she was taught, it’s not what you say, it’s what you do that matters – exemplified by the constant sharing of love and respect for your family members and friends. That and knowing, as any Jewish mother will tell you, “true natural beauty takes time – and money!”
Monica shares many humorous examples about her early career, first as a singing waitress in a restaurant where she learned about jazz from the piano player to stand-up technique from many comedians in the famous Borscht Belt clubs. All that experience and practice eventually led her to the Comedy Store in Hollywood where she learned from the greats, such as Robin Williams and Richard Pryor, while she honed her craft performing in The Belly Room with the other female comics. Then she hit the road – and never looked back! At least not until she wrote Not That Jewish!
The production is directed by Eve Brandstein who keeps Monica moving between four performance areas on the set upon a small raised platform stage in a room with approximately 50 folding chair seats. But it is Monica’s talent to draw the audience into her life and ever-present comedic personality that will draw you in and keep you laughing from start to finish. Brilliant general lighting effects morph to performance spotlights to signal Monica’s scene transitions.
And after having performed her hilarious stand-up show at The Braid in Santa Monica for 14 months, Monica went on to delight New York audiences by taking it off-Broadway for almost a year. Now to honor the place where it all started, Monica is performing her critically-acclaimed solo show as the inaugural production in The Braid’s new performance space at 3435 Ocean Park Blvd. in Santa Monica 90405. Shows take place on Thursday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through February 23. Tickets are $40, available at The-Braid.org/Monica.
I encourage you to get a ticket and be ready to laugh along with her as you meet Monica’s parents, Aunt Rose and Uncle Hammy, go to Yankee Stadium with her as a kid and then meet Mickey Mantle socially years later, hear about her blond-haired, blue-eyed non-Jewish husbands, accompany her through her cancer battle, her struggle to conceive a child, the joy of raising her adopted son with a Jewish education, seeing him and his “Papa” learning to do a spit-take thanks to his Jewish sense of humor, along with being an in-demand comedy writer and performer. I guarantee it will do your (Jewish) heart good!
If you missed its successful run last fall at Theatre 40, Syrie James’ Jane Austen in 89 Minutes is moving into the glorious Greystone Mansion, 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 for a limited 10-show run, January 29 – February 9. It’s an engaging comedy in which a cast of madcap ladies and gents bring all six of Austen’s beloved novels to comic life, while including modern day zingers about Jane Austen’s fame, fandom, movies, and TV series. The action takes place in a wrinkle in time, the present day intermingled with England’s Regency Era, 1811-1816. And at several points, Jane Austen must rein in her characters when they run amok and try to take over the show!
Jane Austen in 89 Minutes is written, directed, choreographed, and costumed from her personal collection by Syrie James. Featured in the cast are Todd Andrew Ball, Alison Blanchard, Steven G. Frankenfield, Megan Deford, Branda Lock (who joins the original cast to portray Jane Austen), Michael Mullen, and Holly Sidell. You can read my review of the Theatre 40 production in my Stage Page column on October 17, 2024 at https://www.culvercitynews.org/category/entertainment/
Tickets are $68 and must be purchased in advance and will not be available at the door. A complete show schedule and tickets can be found at https://theatre40.org/product/jane-austen-in-89-minutes-inside-greyston-mansion/ Please note all matinee performances are sold out.
