© Slash Coleman 2006
If you’ve lived in Richmond for the past couple of years, you’ve possibly seen Slash
Coleman. His one-man show, “The Neon Man and Me,” found not only great success locally
but Coleman took it on the road cross-country, for a run off-Broadway, and even found a
place for it as a PBS special. Last year, Coleman was also named as one of Style Weekly’s
“Top Forty Under Forty” to look out for as they make their splash across the River City.

Well, splash time’s not quite over for Slash Coleman. In fact, his next artistic wave is here
with his newest one-man show, “Slash Coleman Has Big Matzo Balls.”

Opening tonight at Comedy Sportz Improv Theatre, “Matzo Balls” is a performance that
explores the cultural relationship Americans have with Judaism. Told from the perspective
of Coleman’s life, who he grew up Jewish in a non-Jewish community where he learned to
keep his Judaism mum, “Matzo Balls,” is comically entertaining, intimate, and just as quirky
as the title portrays.

Written and performed entirely by Coleman himself (aside from the help of some impromptu
audience volunteers) and directed by Christine Walters, “Matzo Balls” showcases Coleman’s
ability to go from character to character with artistic integrity, political acuteness and very
little set design.
The beginning scene places Coleman behind the microphone in a mock WWII-era radio show announcing what is the public beginning
of the Jewish Holocaust. Jumping from broadcaster to storyteller without missing a beat, Coleman immediately introduces the audience
with an integral theme of the play—the emotional relationships we all share with historical identities.

From then on, we seem to enter a comic arena that is almost akin to “Alice in Wonderland,” only instead of searching for a white rabbit
Coleman leads the audience in a hunt for his missing yellow triangle that will make his Star of David complete.

Along the way we meet a variety of characters that aid Coleman in his quest, such as a polyester-suited devout Jew who accidentally
becomes impregnated by a Fairy God Jewish Mother when her spell goes awry; a Jewish hand-puppet super hero named “Super Cock;” as
well as the spiritual mentorship of a big, orange, Matzo ball.

The highlight performance of the evening comes from Coleman’s portrayal of the polyester-suited Jew in search of the triangle. Fully
decked out in costume with a thick strap-on beard and curly peyos (sideburns), it is as though this character completely releases Coleman
to the comic realm of his performance, allowing him to fully embrace the stage.

When he finds instructions for using a Fairy God Jewish Mother in his blazer pocket, Coleman takes his guard down and allows the oddness
of the situation to lead him on a ride that becomes even odder, and more hilarious.

While there are connotations associated with the “Matzo Ball” that may make shy ones blush, Coleman uses the metaphor to cross the
bridge of traditional gender expectations that exist not only for a Jewish male within the family, but also for the Jewish identity in America.

There were times, however, when I expected more from Coleman’s performance and it felt as though he was reading memory cue lines in
his mind. Given the intimate and personal material Coleman was drawing from, there was a certain level of emotional rawness that was
periodically missing.

Not to say that I wasn’t laughing as he danced and sang to a contemporary Jewish song with a faux-pregnant belly stuffed under his tuxedo
shirt, peyos swinging to the beat. But I suppose I kept looking for him to continuously recreate that same energy and spunk throughout the
rest of the show instead of in emotional spurts.

And if it sounds like I’m being picky, that’s only because I believe in the underlying power of this play. With “Matzo Balls,” Coleman hits on
the perspective that it is our own responsibility to fully identify and celebrate the depth of who we are, instead of berating ourselves for
who we are not.

And to never forget to ask your Matzo ball for advice along the way.

”Slash Coleman Has Big Matzo Balls” plays at Comedy Sportz Improv Theatre tonight and Saturday and next Friday and Saturday. Show
starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person. For more information call (804) 266-9377.
Making Matzo Matter
Review: One-man show blends views of Judaism
and comedy.
Deanna Geneva Lorianni
Richmond.com
Friday, June 22, 2007