Naomi Grossman Will Perform AMERICAN WHORE STORY in Palm Springs

Emmy-nominated actress Naomi Grossman, best known as fan-favorite "Pepper," the first multi-season crossover character from Ryan Murphy's hit television series, American Horror Story, will present a raucous, irreverent love letter to AHS fans, chronicling her pre to post-Pepper adventures in her most recent solo show, American Whore Story. The show will be recorded as a television special before a live audience April 9. 

Directed by Jimmy Kimmel Live! veteran director Joe DeMaio, American Whore Story is Grossman's third entry in her trilogy of solo shows. Its predecessors, Girl in Argentine Landscape and Carnival Knowledge, received critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, on London's West End, in New York and Los Angeles, and at universities nationwide.

From the face that launched a thousand AHS memes, gifs, clickbait, and fan art, American Whore Story is an anthology of autobiographical tales of self-compromise. In the show, Grossman reveals her history of hustling, from her compromised love life to her compromising odd jobs. She drives the Red Bull car (then crashes it into a shopping mall), masquerades as a native-speaking Spanish teacher (at the Playboy Mansion and beyond), dicks around as the giant condom at a gay pride parade (as one does)... and the list goes on. Relatable to anyone who's ever felt compromised, American Whore Story takes its audience on a transformative trip to Burning Man, an acid trip to a 60's Rat Pack rager, and along Grossman's circuitous, albeit hilarious, triumphant trip to #1 on IMDb's star-meter.

In preparation for this live taping, American Whore Story made its Off-Broadway debut, took residence at the Regent Theatre in Boston, headlined the Denver Fringe, was extended three times in Taos, and played 27 consecutive nights at the Edinburgh Fringe, where The Scotsman named it one of the festival's "10 must-see theatre shows." Winner of five BroadwayWorld Awards, including Best Production of a Play, Best Performance, Best Direction, and Best Sound Design (Off-Broadway), as well as Best Solo Production (Los Angeles), it also garnered the attention of the LA Women's Theatre Festival, who presented Grossman with its esteemed Maverick Award for her "high standard of individuality and self-styled creativity."

Aside from its impressive resume, American Whore Story graces Palm Springs with notable industry buzz. In fact, casting saw the show and immediately offered Naomi a role in Jordan Peele's most recent, sports-horror film, Him. Gavin Polone, executive producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Gilmore Girls, raved, "Naomi is a multi-hyphenate- an intelligent and witty writer as well as a comedically gifted performer." Ryan Murphy, who cast Grossman as "Pepper," agrees. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy calls her early performance in Asylum "pure comic delight," in contrast with her dramatic shift revealed later in the show. For that reason, he explains, "We cast an actress at the very beginning who could play both those things."

Theater producer Kate Atkinson (Part of the Plan, A Very Brady Musical) and documentary filmmaker Sarah Anthony (Kiss the Future, The Defiant Ones, Light and Magic) have partnered with Grossman on American Whore Story, with original stage direction by multiple Ovation Award-winner Richard Israel, under their AWS Entertainment Group banner.

"For 20 years, Sarah and I have witnessed Naomi own the stage with her award-winning, side-splitting, self-scribed solo shows, and now we are thrilled to bring her first production post-Pepper fame to a wide cadre of fans and theatre lovers alike," Atkinson said. "But don't take my word for it- Off-Broadway critics themselves tout that if HBO isn't calling, they should be."

The team is hopeful that they will. "Naomi has a Lily Tomlin-level stage presence and humor," Anthony added. "She's an accomplished yogi; her physicality and timing are as dynamic as her writing is sharp. This show is a real evolution in her comedic artistry and a fascinating insight into the up and down journey toward 'overnight' success."