REVIEWS: Keepin’ It Real With Wilson

There’s a line partway through this show that’s really struck me, something along the lines of “familiarity is the first step toward acceptance and understanding.” It’s the sort of truth that’s so obvious, it’s world shattering: why hadn’t I considered this before? Why isn’t this something we all learn in first grade? How much wasted time and embarrassment could I have been spared had I learned—if not the words, at least the lesson—before growing into a snarling and fearful backwater teen, someone who I’d later have to work hard to unbecome? I wish my sixteen-year-old self could have seen this show. Maybe you know someone terrified of the unknown who’d benefit from being invited to join you.

–DOUGLAS W. MILLKEN, PortFringe 2019 Review Team

Silly, salacious and One-Act festival ready, this piece touches (none too lightly) on: sexual vulnerability, gender identity education and day-time tv. If you have a friend that you’d like to have a pronoun conversation with, this is the show to bring them to see.

— TARRA BOUCHARD, PortFringe 2019 Review Team

The Durham based company Alan, Alan, Alan-No, That’s Not Alan-Steve Productions brings an exuberant comic sensibility to its debut production, Keepin’ it Real With Wilson. Cory King as the buffoonish but earnest talk show host Wilson Pettibone St. Alouicious the First stars in three short episodes of a panel discussion program riffing on themes of sex, gender, and politics. The show is at it’s best when it pairs Wilson’s outsized personality, trademark catchphrases, and physical comedy with equal measures of character based comedy from its talented supporting cast, but loses steam at times when it preaches a bit too much on the nose. All in all, it is a funny and impressive debut performance for this new company and well worth your time. Get out there and see it.

–MARK SHAUGHNESSY, PortFringe 2019 Review Team

Kudos to this ensemble, with special kudos to Cory King as Wilson for great comic timing and delivery. This was the final show of their auspicious debut so I’m throwing down the gauntlet Portland… who’s gonna pick up this troupe for a summer run in one of the comedy venues? Keepin’ It Real for the summer? Yes!

–LINDA SHARY, PortFringe 2019 Review Team

Search