How do you write about this? That’s the first thing that I said when it was over. I think the best description I can give for theater folk is that it is super Fringey. But not everyone knows what that means and might think it has a negative connotation, it doesn’t. It’s almost like saying it’s unique, creative, or atypical of live theater, unless of course you are at a Fringe Festival, than something described as being very Fringey is very much like everything else, except probably completely different. Now that I’ve clarified that and used as many words as possible to do so, let me tell you the premise of the show. Two friends are trying to prove that an online quiz they took titled Which Middle Name of ‘Philip Seymour Hoffman’ are YOU? to which the answer is always Seymour. Of course it’ll also give the incorrect answer which is Seymoure, with an E at the end. Why do they want to prove this? Because the creator of the quiz Doug Pickle has threatened to cancel them unless they can prove that the answer of Seymoure actually appears. They have taken the quiz thousands of times and never been able to repeat the answer of Seymoure that they once got.

That is the set up, the punchline is the next 75 minutes which is spent racing around the theater having volunteers from the audience take the quiz. If that sounds like it would get boring or repetitive, fear not. The writers Jake Mierva and Danylo Loutchko who also perform the show along with their computer person Sarah Halverson, who can be seen folding laundry between quizes, have solved the repetition issue. Each time you take the quiz it’s completely different, but even more than the questions changing the humorous idea behind each round of questions changes. Not to give too much away but for example one round might be trivia questions about Philip Seymour Hoffman, the next might show you pictures and ask you what sound is this picture? The variety of the quizes along with the surprises that might come from the audiences answers is from where much hilarity ensues. For those who dread interactive shows, rest assured you have to raise your hand and volunteer, and you learn fairly quickly it’s a safe place to volunteer. There are also some side bits that get performed throughout the show between quizes which are clever. Like the repeated deliveries from Doug Pickle which taunt them, and motivational speeches when one of them starts feeling hopeless and wants to give up. Mierva and Loutchko’s manic energy alone is worth the time and price of admission.

Which Middle Name of ‘Philip Seymour Hoffman’ are YOU? is incredibly silly and fun and is running through March 16th at The Phoenix Theater in Uptown. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://allegedtheatre.com/on-stage/

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