Frigid 2009: How Does a Drug Deal Become a Decent 3rd Date

Photo/Kevin Zemnickis

Note: At the final performance I attended, they had run out of programs, so all cast/crew information is cribbed from the listings at NYTheatre.com.

As a monologue, Kelly Aija Zemnickis's How Does a Drug Deal Become a Decent 3rd Date would be just another whining comedy about how disgusting men are. However, as a demonstrative two-person show, it's a lot easier to empathize with our desperate--but thankfully not that desperate--hero. Jesse Bond's excellent portrayal of three of these men provides us with a frame of reference (and an opportunity to marvel at one actor's range), and Carmine Lucarelli's direction modulates the exaggeration, but never to the breaking point. As a result, when Girl (Neale Kimmel) jokes about her current date isn't talking about memorization when he says he's off to do some lines, we're right there with her. Her life isn't the aftermath of the rock concert she makes it out to be, but it'd fit nicely with an comedy club.