from Potomac Stages, February
8, 2003
Benchley Despite Himself
If
you already love the humor of Robert Benchley, you will
love this show by his grandson which mixes biographical
information, analytical opinion and a generous helping of
the original wit of the man. If, instead, you are simply
intrigued by the history of the gentle soul who combined
nonsense humor with mild self-depreciation, you will find
much to contemplate in this rambling rumination by a descendent
with an uncanny resemblance to the humorist. If you come
to this cold, however, you may wonder just what all the
fuss is about. Still, you will find yourself laughing at
a good deal of the material.
Storyline:
The grandson of Robert Benchley tries to explain to the
audience both the public successes of his grandfather and
the life he took such pains to keep private. Robert Benchley
was one of Broadway’s best known critics in the 1920s and
30s, a successful author of humorous short stories and sketches
and the author and star of a number of Hollywood short subjects
into the 1940s. The grandson delivers some of the grandfather’s
funniest material is in his effort to explain both the attraction
of his humor and the way it deflected attention from his
private world.
Robert
Benchley’s output of seemingly effortless humor fills many
volumes. He published a dozen compilations during his lifetime
with titles that reflected his unique mixture of whimsy
and nonsense – titles like “The Treasurer’s Report &
Other Aspects of Community Singing” and “My Ten Years In
a Quandary.” The former contained, as the title piece, perhaps
his most famous standup comedy routine. “The Treasurer’s
Report” became one of the very first talking short films,
the success of which launched both a new film genre and
the movie career of its author. His fifty short films included
classics like “The Sex Life of the Polyp.” Watching Nat
Benchley perform material from these shorts is very much
like watching the originals. He is uncanny in his ability
to use the genetic gifts of his family tree and his own
skills as a professional actor to bring his grandfather’s
public persona to life.
The
script also generously samples Robert Benchley’s great record
of throw away one-liners that seemed so genuine and revealed
a deep affection for language as well as a twist of mind
that was absolutely unique. Who but Benchley would wire
from Venice “Streets all full of water - please advise”?
Who but Benchley would say “a boy can learn a lot from a
dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around
three times before lying down”? Who else would say ” It
took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for
writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time
I was too famous”? But Nat Benchley manages to pull these
and many other famous lines together without fulfilling
another of his grandfather’s famous observations: “The surest
way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him.” Instead,
he makes a human being out of the public comic....
|