COMEDY review: Comedy with commentary works

By Mandy Wright
On-line Forty-Niner

"The Kirsten Van Ritzen Show" is a laugh-out-loud blend of comedy, improvisation and social commentary. Often outrageous and sometimes blurring the line between comedy and reality, Van Ritzen's oddball characters kept the audience guessing during her hour-long, one-woman show, which opened Monday at the Hudson Guild Theater in Los Angeles.

The comedienne opened the show with a character, which is perhaps not so different from an earlier version of Van Ritzen herself. Looking overdone and dressed in a long coat, "The Actress" informs the audience that she has decided to take on the world of sketch comedy for the first time, after picking up some "how-to" books on her way over.

As she skims through each of the books she has purchased and attempts a "cold read," her purposely-stilted jokes range from flat to obscene, with a biting segment about the role of female comedians in between.

Although each of the characters had a distinct and hilarious personality, Ritzen really seems to be in her element when doing sketches that allow for improvisation. Her character Siren, an emissary from hell, got into some comedic audience interaction while deciding whom she will tempt that evening.

After choosing a very unwilling male participant who declined to even give his name, Siren purrs, "Cat got your tongue, has he? Very well, I shall call you…Fluffy."
 She then continues to refer to the man and his companions as "Fluffy and friends" throughout the remainder of the skit, and compares hell to a "small dark room where people refuse to speak."

Van Ritzen's improvisation skills are again showcased as the bawdy alcoholic Louise. After performing a brief round of stand-up, during which she refers to her "hairy taco," Louise moves into the audience. She strikes up conversation with a box office manager, telling him he can "manage her box" any time, then asks his wife if he has to put money in her slot at night. Raunchiness like this coming from an older woman in a tacky dress with mismatched shoes is hard to beat.

After her last sketch, Van Ritzen took the stage once more, this time as herself. The laughs continue as she launches into a shortened version of her life story, including her birth, told entirely in mime.

Although Van Ritzen informed the audience that she tried to "remove as much meaning as possible" from the show, this doesn't stop her from making people laugh, providing a subtle insight into human nature while she's at it.