Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Expounding white dudes at the Kraine: Mike Daisey in SCOTT AND ANDY AND ALL THE BOYS & Liam McEneaney in SECOND SHOT

• By drediman
• May 16, 2021
• No Comments

Last weekend down at the Kraine Theater in the East Village, I sat through a pair of performances featuring white dudes expounding …

MIKE DAISEY: SCOTT AND ANDY AND ALL THE BOYS
The Kraine Theater
May 7 (one-night only)

Mike Daisey has the distinction of being one of the first performers to jump right back into in-person performance when it was finally allowed to resume a little more than a month ago. Last weekend, he returned to the Kraine Theatre to unveil his monologue Scott and Andy and All the Boys (RECOMMENDED). Here, the topic is toxic masculinity, as exemplified by the recent revelations of the chronic unsavory behavior of Scott Rudin and Andrew Cuomo, as well as Mr. Daisey’s own tendencies. Happily, this latest work from one of our master monologuists is vintage Mike Daisey – the piece is tightly structured, intensely probing, and delivered with absolute urgency and conviction. After quite the hiatus, it was a distinct pleasure to once again witness Mr. Daisey holding court and tackling pressing issues of the day.

LIAM MCENEANEY: SECOND SHOT
Kraine Theater
May 8 (one-night only)

Then the next evening at the same venue, I attended Liam McEneaney’s more traditional comedy set, which was pun-ily entitled Second Shot (RECOMMENDED). Although currently based in Los Angeles, Mr. McEneaney was born and raised in New York. Indeed, that brash urban east coast mentality and tone and pervaded the performance, during which Mr. McEneaney tested out a bevy of new material (much of which played off of his Irish/Jewish heritage) – some of which landed, others not so much. Nevertheless, as with many great comics, there’s certain comfort in being in the presence of Mr. McEneaney’s easy-going style and persona, which largely transcend the success of his jokes. The laid-back levity of his loosely-structured set was a refreshing contrast to Mike Daisey’s air tight monologue, which had more serious things on its mind.