Van
Ritzen takes Hollywood with solo comedy
Courtesy
of Phyllis Folb
By
Mandy Wright
On-line Forty-Niner
Kirsten
Van Ritzen remembers getting her first
big laugh by doing physical comedy in
the second grade. Once she had caught
that taste of show biz, there was no turning
back.
"If
you do comedy, you know there's an electricity
in the air, and sort of a sense of magic
that happens when you're playing for that
comedic moment," she says. "The
audience is with you, you get those gigantic
laughs. It's totally addictive."
The
Canadian-born performer is hoping audiences
will share her addiction when her one-woman
show,
aptly named "The Kirsten Van Ritzen
Show," which debuts Monday at the
Hudson Guild Theatre in Hollywood.
Van
Ritzen says her brand of comedy, featuring
a collection of crazy characters, is inspired
by great comediennes such as Tracey Ullman,
Carol Burnett and…Cher?
"I
just remember being really, really little
and watching the Sonny and Cher show,
and I loved how she would come out with
this like glamorous outfit and sing really
slow, and then she'd take it off and sing
really fast," Van Ritzen says.
The
multi-talented actress decided to explore
the comedic route after taking a course
in college, which involved comedia del
arte, an Italian form of comedy centered
on improvisation.
"That
for me is where the whole comedy thing
clicked--the acting and the improv,"
she says.
She
is always looking for inspiration in her
everyday life. She once took a belly dancing
class, and formed a character based on
her instructor.
"You
never know where your sources of inspiration
will come from."
She
gets frustrated when asked to perform
a character's act when she's not in costume,
"or vice versa, when I'm dressed
as a character and I'm about to go on,
and someone wants to talk to me as Kirsten."
On
that note, meet some of the characters
in "The Kirsten Van Ritzen Show,"
as described by the woman who knows them
best -- Van Ritzen herself:
Louise
(with a bit of a slur): "She's an
older lady who likes the gentlemen and
she likes a good drink. She's got one
glass eye."
Ruby
(in a Jimmy Stewart-esque accent): "She's
from the world of 1940s radio. She's a
career gal and she's a divorcee."
Petunia:
"She's sort of like a child-woman.
She grew up in a box without any parents."
Van
Ritzen's show has no purpose other than
making people laugh, she says. Still,
she can't help but notice an underlying
theme.
"I
think there's sort of a sense of hopefulness,
that some of them are kind of down and
out, but that no matter how bad life treats
them, they always sort of want to move
forward.
EVENTS
LISTING
What:
"The Kirsten Van Ritzen Show"
When: 8 p.m., Mondays through Nov. 24
Where: Hudson Guild Theatre 6539 Santa
Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca
Ticket Information: (323) 856-4200
