With “I’m Down,” presented as a workshop performance
at the People’s Improv Theater on May 4, Mishna
Wolff has all the makings of a hilarious show about
childhood and adolescence. The milieu is a poor
black neighborhood where her father has chosen to
stay after getting divorced, because, as he says in
a repeated refrain attempting to be profound, “Your
neighborhood is where you live.”
Mishna thought the divorce would be her escape with
her mom to a nicer neighborhood, but her father
keeps custody of her and her sister -- another
family member who becomes a sort of nemesis, a la
the evil niece Bernie Mac describes in his stand-up.
The other constant of Mishna’s life becomes Sundays
at black Baptist church, something she wants to
abstain from. Wolff has a good command of her
characters’ different voices -- her father’s
black-sounding “mmms” and pauses after sentences,
his father’s domino-playing buddies, and the
different types of kids in school and summer
programs.
Wolff has a unique point of view and unique
material, and elicits distinct laughs from her
comically sad tales of not fitting in. The title
itself is her goal, which she eventually gets closer
to through “capping,” the trading of insults among
the kids.
Helped by slides of her family and friends, and a
bit of George Benson R&B from the early ’80s,
Wolff’s show could use more audio-visual
punctuation, however, which may be in the works as
she refines the show -- such as spotlights to
heighten the more tragicomic moments of her stories,
or more songs of the era between stories.
Despite all the sardonic jokes in this show, it’s a
tale of surviving an adverse youth -- made easy to
relate to through Wolff’s skilled portrayal of the
novel characters of her life.
Mishna Wolff performs “I’m Down” 8 p.m. Saturday,
May 6 at the People’s Improv Theater.