Review: Kevin Kent Gives a Hilarious and Heartfelt EULOGY at West of Lenin

Working through the grief of the loss of a loved one is never easy. Luckily Eleanor Mae (Kevin Kent) is on hand to help us through the grief. To help us cry, to help us process and yes, to help us laugh in the fantastic new show "Eulogy" at West of Lenin. But this is not your ordinary riff on loss as it's our loved ones Eleanor is keeping us laughing about until our faces hurt.

It's just another average day as we walk into the Bolten Memorial Funeral Home. But at Bolten's it's not your average service as we are lucky enough to have Professional Mourner and Medium Eleanor Mae leading us through the service. As she walks us through our pain she also walks through various family photos to let us know what they are (or were) thinking. And as this is our service and of course no two services are alike, we are encouraged to bring in our own family photos for Eleanor to interpret. (Don't worry, you'll get them back). And all with the help of the quite silent Funeral Director (Joe Kerry).

Kent has long been thrilling audiences in Seattle and elsewhere with his hilarious antics at Teatro ZinZanni. And I for one have often thought, "We need an entire evening of just him." Well, prayers answered. His routine goes beyond drag, beyond improv, and into the realm of a storytelling master as he dives into whatever photos he's been given to hysterical results. But not even just on hand for the funny, Kent manages to create entire worlds with the photos given. Worlds that are funny, yes, but also touching and thought provoking and never where you think they're going to go. For example when one photo of a man wearing a sweater with a highly questionable saying on it came up we all laughed at the saying but then Kent gave him a full back story including a comment of a man struggling with a disability. And it was still funny!

I honestly don't know what more I can say other than go see this comedy genius do his thing. As I said you can bring your own photos or they have plenty of random photos on hand for us to choose through. But no matter the image, you're in for an outrageously fun time and so with my three letter rating system I give "Eulogy" a grief stricken YAY. This is sure to be the best time you'll ever have at a funeral.

"Eulogy" performs at West of Lenin through April 16th. For tickets or information visit them online at www.westoflenin.com.

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