Review: Acidic, Acerbic Jackie Hoffman Gets Blunt In IT'S OVER. WHO HAS WEED? at Joe's Pub

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Grabbing that silent T in cabareT to bring you all the Tea!

Well, my rainbow angels, Little Bobby came full circle this week when we took ourselves downtown to the FAB Joe’s Pub to see (and hear) Jackie Hoffman in her newest musical comedy set IT’S OVER. WHO HAS WEED? Full circle because back in 2019 The Lady Hoffman was our very first review assignment on BroadwayWorld and after all this time we can report… nothing whatsoever has changed. Still loud, still darker than the pit of hell, still acid-tongued, Jackie delivered up a full 70 minutes of her murderous brand of hilarity. Taking aim at the state of the world, the state of show business, the state of her own career, and the state of Vancouver - a place she has been banished to for a few gigs. Jackie alternately proved she’s a master of standup, as well as a vocalist of great power, as her musical caldron bubbled over with tunes from the pen of the FAB Bobby Peaco. With musical direction and keys by long-time friend Lon Hoyt, Jackie wailed and whined, pulling her leather larynx and rubber face in every direction they could possibly go. The demands she placed on her instrument while she performed were Herculean, and almost unfathomable, given her diminutive height and tiny frame - in short, she was loud … and she was soft, she growled, she grumbled, she kvetched, she did herky-jerky dances, and made fun of other performers like Bernadette Peters (with a masterful impression). 

Kicking off her hit parade from Peaco’s pen, Jackie opened with her title tune IT’S OVER, which somehow managed to come across as spritely and fun, and as dark as can be. BEWARE THE AIR BNB was a hilarious paean to the months she spent trapped in Vancouver filming 10 episodes of GREASE: RISE OF THE PINK LADIES for a total of 16 minutes of screen time. Periodically Hoyt would call out from behind the piano, “Lantern Fly!!” and the clown princess would stomp the ground screaming about "how we had to kill them"… which finally led to the hilarious LARRY THE LANTERN FLY. Her director, Michael Schiralli, kept the entire show on tight reins in his capable hands, and 70 minutes of face-aching laughter seemed to just fly by. At the end of the performance, Hoffman sang (without any funny business) a Yiddish version of BEI MIR BIST DU SCHÖN during which Steven Smyth, her “hot husband” (her words, and she does not lie) joined her on stage to bust out a terrific jazz trumpet solo. Wrapping up the night with a 1940's-style jump/jive version of W.A.P. was the comedy cherry on Jackie's bitter-sweet chocolate cake, and if you don’t know what W.A.P.  stands for, ask the nearest 12-year-old.

So, my dearlings, that is WHAT Jackie Hoffman did for her final performance at Joe’s Pub on Tuesday night, but here’s WHY the lady did it. Beginning her career and honing her craft at Chicago’s famous Second City, she came to us in New York some 20-odd years ago and has clocked more than a dozen productions on our stages, and though she has also made Emmy nominated inroads to the television branch of the acting biz and popped up in a big screen movie here and there (BIRDMAN & LEGALLY BLONDE 2), she has remained in New York and remained a creature of the stage. You see, there are 2 kinds of clowns in the world - clowns in the circus who do funny things to make us laugh at them, and clowns in the theatre (movies & TV) that say and do funny things to make us laugh at ourselves. The best of them use their tongues like scalpels to cut deep, make us bleed, and then instantly heal us with laughter. Ms. Hoffman is the latter, and each time it has been this writer’s pleasure to catch her act on The Broadway, Off-The-Broadway, in the clubs, or on a screen, we have marveled, we have admired and we have laughed - oh golly how we have laughed. We in this city are lucky that, given the right set of circumstances, we can buy a ticket and go see Jackie ply her craft live, but for Jackie Hoffman: IT'S OVER. WHO HAS WEED?, it’s over, since Tuesday was the closing show. Oh well, keep your eyes and ears peeled for ANY opportunity to catch the lady’s act. She is well worth the price of the ticket because she gets…

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows

Keep Up With Jackie Hoffman At Her Webbysite: HERE

Follow Jackie’s (Are they Still Tweets On X?): HERE

Ande On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

Although Jackie Hoffman's stint at Joe's Pub is ended, there are other great shows coming up, so check out the venerated venue's calendar HERE.

All Photos by Yours Truly, Bobby Patrick

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