In a cozy, dark room located in the appropriately named theater on 59th street, an audience sits, watching a solitary microphone positioned on a stand. The walls and floor are black and the lighting is minimal. I know why I’m here: to prepare for my first ever review of a stand-up comedy show by Lucie Pohl, a name I recognize but do not know. But let me tell you, I left that night knowing Pohl a little too well.
“. . .I was taught a lesson on foreign affairs (literally). . .”
Lucie Pohl was born in Germany and raised in NYC. Her comedy debut in 2015, Hi Hitler!, was nominated for the New York Innovative Theater Award (Outstanding Solo Performance) and played to sold out houses at the Edinburgh Festival, in Los Angeles, Romania, and many others. While I told my more cultured friends who I was seeing, first reactions ranged from, “ah, she has a role in the new Harry Potter movie (Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them)” to, “she’s hilarious, you’ll love it.” So of course, I went into Pohl’s show with high expectations, something I try to never do, but she was fantastic anyway.
We were a tough crowd, you could see it in Pohl’s eyes as she first walked out and saw maybe 15 of us scattered through the seats (it was the day before her last show). Cocking an eyebrow when we didn’t laugh on cue and giving us a look like alright, whatever, she stepped away from the mic, not needing to project very much in the small theatre.
“The only real reason I perform here is so I have somewhere to go,” she confessed after telling the woes of a starving artist (my words, not hers), insisting she was a bad liar and she had to be honest with us. She shrugged, arms out, returning to the microphone. The rest of her storytelling performance stemmed from there, encompassing the meaning behind the title Apohlcalypse Now! (a play on her last name, if you couldn’t tell) with crazy stories from her time working at Big Apple Balls of Meat as a waitress, to her parents encouraging her (or not), the difficulty of getting her boyfriend to propose to her, up to acting in her first role in a Turkish horror movie and the many shenanigans that followed.
Throughout this story of her life, Pohl takes on the role of many characters, such as her parents (dad, a wildly gesticulative man with a thick German accent, who delivers unhelpful one-liners to his daughter, and her mom, a soft-spoken lady who is trying to inspire Pohl, but typically ends up making her feel worse or less than motivated), her broody boyfriend Adonis, her eccentric agent Bill, Stephen Baldwin (“Steve B.”), and many others. Each character is done differently and stands out, easy to distinguish and understand. Pohl tells the story of Apohlcalypse Now! in almost chronological order, pausing at times to rant about this or that (letting loose and exaggerating about how obnoxious she is at restaurants because of her particular diet, making me and the audience laugh even before she was finished), or go on monologues that could be recited at poetry slams (the goldfish analogy). Apohlcalypse Now! could almost be considered a one-man show, with how well done every encounter and interaction is done with these characters.
One particular character that stood out was the director of the horror movie from Istanbul. Every time Pohl would summon his character the audience and myself had a smile on big enough to hurt. Pohl’s facial expressions, hand movements, voices, and body language were all done impeccably well and brought each character to life.
Praise be to Matt Otto, the sound designer for this show, as Pohl told her life story and subtle music cues would flutter in, setting the mood for calm serenity or dramatic acting bits (when Pohl took the director’s notes literally and gave a melodramatic performance of her character for a movie scene, her crazy eyes lured us in, but it was the music that left the audience in stitches).
I went on a journey with Lucie Pohl, perhaps a little forcibly, but it was a wild ride I’d surely take again. I was taught a lesson on foreign affairs (literally), what to eventually expect living in NYC (dead rats in my mailbox, apparently), and that marriage is just not that important, unless you need a Green Card. Lucie Pohl ended with a smile and bow, exclaiming, “If you liked it, tell your friends! If you hated it, tell your enemies!”
Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Advisory: Explicit language
Lucie Pohl: Apohlcalypse Now! played through July 17, 2016 at 59E59 Theater C. For more information on 59E59 Theaters, click here.
