Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Zach Zucker is the ineptly offensive JACK TUCKER, an unhinged comic creation that spares no one

• By drediman
• March 21, 2024
• No Comments

Last night, I was able to experience Zach Zucker dissolve into his alter-ego — the ineptly offensive comedian “Jack Tucker” — in an act innocuously titled Comedy Standup Hour. Over there the past few years, the show has been making its rounds around the globe and now arrives in New York at Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse, where it’s slated to play through the end of the month.

In his latest piece, Zucker brilliantly walks the fine line between off-putting and hilarious. The show’s rapid fire delivery also gives the show an assaultive quality that some may find oppressive. As such, the show may not be for everyone. But those who are able to chuckle at the egregious insensitivity of it all and decide to embark on the wild ride that is Jack Tucker: Comedy Standup Hour will be rewarded with one of the most ingenious and exhilarating comedy acts currently on offer. What distinguishes Zucker is how he incorporates the art of clowning and miming into the world of standup comedy, resulting in what in my mind is actually stylish absurdist theater that borders on performance art. Indeed, as directed by Jonny Woolley, Comedy Standup Hour is thoroughly a theatrical production — complete with a madcap blooper soundscape and precisely timed lighting — in the guise of a standup comedy act.

As a performer, Zucker possesses impeccable timing and impressive physicality and uses them to give the impression of epic maladroitness. To be sure, there’s fantastic rigor and precision behind the mayhem. Throughout, Zucker was completely in the moment, riffing off the happenings in the audience, sparing no one in the process. In summary, Jack Tucker: Comedy Standup Hour is a triumph of illusion and unhinged antics.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

JACK TUCKER: COMEDY STANDUP HOUR
Comedy, Off-Broadway
SoHo Playhouse
1 hour, 10 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 30