An interview with me from TC Jewfolk in advance of my performance at the Jewish Humor Festival
From Uptown Magazine:
A
Jason Neufeld is Impotent
By Alix Sobler InTrouble Productions
Venue 17
The talented Alix Sobler gives us a funny, sweet and carefully crafted work chronicling the fictional demise of her relationship with real-life sweetheart Jason Neufeld (whose Fringe production just happens to be Alix Sobler Slept with My Brother). Sobler’s acting is effortless and engaging, taking us through the five stages of break-up grief and chronicling the ups and downs of her relationship, which included the culture shock of a move to Winnipeg from New York, with all the requisite laughs. But she goes well beyond the confines of a break-up comedy with a touching exploration of her relationship with her mother, who never had the chance to meet the love of her life. Jason Neufeld is Impotent manages the delicate task of tugging at the heart strings and tickling the funny bone with grace and aplomb. – BS
CBC Review:
This is Alix Sobler’s half of two companion pieces at this year’s Fringe. The premise is that she and real-life sweetheart Jason Neufeld (who she met on the Fringe circuit) have had a terrible break-up, and each written plays to deal with it. (And yes, if you’re going to see one, it helps to see the other. It’s not required, but does round out the experience.) It’s an idea that lends itself to a self-referential monologue, but Alix pushes the idea further to explore the theme of loss more broadly.
We find out a lot about Alix’s background, tracing her back to her days as a struggling actor in New York (a hilarious series of auditions for Law and Order manages to skewer the entire cop show genre in about a minute). We find out that everyone in her family is either a social worker, an orthodontist, or married to one. And most importantly, she talks about her late mother, expanding on the idea of loss that begins with talking about the break-up.
There’s a lot of substance to this show, and some very touching moments, but Alix is also a remarkably funny performer with lightning-fast delivery and some great one-liners (Manitobans will appreciate her initial reactions to our home, like “What the hell is a Mennonite?”). Very potent comedy.
CBC Rating: Four Bars
Alix Sobler 