I first saw Zach Zucker on a poster in the Warren. His Lycra-clad torso and staring eyes peeping out through impressive ratings and beaming, one-word quotes of praise from satisfied reviewers. I thought to myself, “I’d better book tickets to that.”
I hurried back to my table to pass on the message – and there he was, chatting and laughing with my friends. The very same quiffed, wide-eyed young chap from the poster – Zach Zucker in the flesh and flyering for his own show. The connection between us all was immediately palpable and his pitch ignited the atmosphere around the sunny, boozy table. We were sold.
His show was unusual and surreally captivating from the outset. The lights went down and within seconds he had the crowd chanting his name. He hadn’t even done anything of note so far, but his charisma compelled us to wilfully immerse ourselves into his world – a place we didn’t emerge from until the very end.
Zach’s performance was a hilarious monologue of ideas, rich with hyperactive rambles, yet flushed with an unmissable sense of careful design. The show was a mélange of improvised, tongue-in-cheek theatre, bursting with slapstick, oddball comedy. It was pleasantly interactive – not the kind that makes you sink low in your seat, hiding from the spotlight – but just enough to make us feel that we, as an audience, were shaping the show; it was something just for us.
We experienced Zach dramatically personifying various body parts and creating a frenzied dialogue between his whole body. We peered into dreamy manifestations of everyday relationships between inanimate objects, culminating in surprisingly hilarious, off-the-wall consequences. The performance was a charming tangle of fumbles that left us wondering whether it was scripted or scrappy, but loving every minute all the while.
Zach Zucker is an absolute must-see show – a sold-out theatre experience with non-stop laughter rolling amongst the crowd. This is one to watch for an evening of guaranteed entertainment and a sneaky peak into the bizarre mind of this fascinating, twenty-something New Yorker.
