Educated Jest

Curtain Call: Humor Abuse

by David Anthony Fox

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Published: Oct 7, 2009

Humor Abuse (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

If there's one thing that strikes fear in my tiny critic's heart, it's a clown. And memoirs where kids tearfully forgive their errant parents. Also puppets.

So by all accounts, I should hate Humor Abuse, Lorenzo Pisoni's bittersweet look back at his childhood, spent performing side-by-side with his dad in a circus. (Really.) But the show is marvelous: funny, touching and — especially during Pisoni's flights of daring — wondrous. (I still don't like puppets, but the one that appears briefly in Humor Abuse is deployed with tremendous verve.)

Although Pisoni is a veteran clown, he's not a typical one. He speaks like a leading man, and his CV includes Shakespearean roles in major venues. And wow — he certainly looks like a leading man! Behind that red nose is a drop-dead gorgeous hunk. (Maybe I'd like clowns better if they were attractive.) Pisoni also insists he isn't funny, but that's not true. Still, his humor is a mordent, self-deprecating kind, used sparingly as he describes what life was like with the volatile father he clearly adored but could never completely understand.

Humor Abuse is a strange hybrid — part intimate confessional piece, part dazzling technical display. There are beautiful stage pictures galore, including a gorgeous moment where our hero jousts a pair of swinging lightbulbs. But the greatest virtuosity lies in the way Pisoni navigates the rocky terrain of his life story with unerring grace. There is sentiment by the cartload in this story that's complex and, emotionally speaking, without a clean ending. But Pisoni knows exactly when to diffuse the moment with masterful sleight of hand and body, so the sweetness never cloys.

And that's all you're going to get from me. Humor Abuse deserves to be seen and savored with fresh eyes. Don't miss this show, which is 75 minutes you'll be reliving with joy (and maybe a good cry or two) for months to come.

Through Oct. 25, $46-$59, Philadelphia Theatre Co. at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., 215-985-0420, philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.

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