Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Hollywood Fringe Festival at The Broadwater
Through June 24
RECOMMENDED
To hear Mike Blaha tell it, life as a wandering nomad is not particularly bad.
In his one-man show, Blaha takes his audience through the beginning of a transitional period in his life, which he called “his five-year plan” — no connection, he quickly points out, with the Stalinist era plan of 1928. The purpose during those years, he tells us, was to find a sense of belonging,
So around two and a half years ago, he decided to leave the country and travel. The ability to work remotely enabled him to take up his profession (he is a film lawyer) in whatever country he happened to be in. He’s not half-hearted about why he left or apologetic about it; he broke up with his girlfriend and “politics, the elections” he indicates in disgust.
Blaha relays with pride that he is a member of The Travelers Century Club, reserved for those who have visited one hundred countries (He has been to 90. Turkey, Bali, Tahiti, Czechoslovakia, Morocco, Brazil, are just some of the places he’s hung his hat for a while, only to move on.
The show is part comedy revue, part travelogue Blaha is at his funniest and most engaging when he spins off an anecdote or a story about things he experienced while on the road. One unsettling incident came about when he was doing a show in Prague, and there happened to be embassy staff there, which means his Trump jokes may not have been appreciated. Sure enough, when he got back to the States, he was asked by a border patrol agent about his “trip to Prague.”
Blaha’s easy-going, conversational manner makes this show engaging, but it would be sharper if there were fewer pointless digressions during his narrative.
The Broadwater Studio, 1078 Lillian Way. Los Angeles, A Hollywood Fringe Festival show; for info visit https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/13853 Running time: one hour
