Joan Jaffe Sings Funny

The good news (and there isn’t any bad news) about funny Joan Jaffe’s funny show “Joan Jaffe Sings Funny” at Don’t Tell Mama is that it is held over for another performance and the date is Sunday February 15 at 6pm. I’d hate to tantalize you with this good review and then tell you that I saw the final show in the run. You are really lucky that Sidney Myer has booked her back for one more night. I hope he’ll continue to bring her back because she is one funny lady.

Stage, screen, TV actor, stand up comedian and partner in “The Joan and Hal Show” with her husband who directed this opus, Joan is billed as “moon…not a star… yet.” She is utterly delightful. Most of the songs, including four from the pen of the clever Francesca Blumenthal, are comedic…and wondrously so. We’ve heard them all before done very well by any number of cabaret singers and they always work. In Joan’s hands “Queens” and “Little Luncheonette” as well as “Acapulco” and the tricky “On The Streets of Paree” sound brand new and as if they were written for her. She gets all the laughs in these brilliant Blumenthal numbers. Her timing is masterful.

Joan has two partners in this evening. One is Musical Director Jerry Scott who backs her pianistically as only he can. Joan gave him a solo spot in the middle of the show and he played an exciting version of “Malaguena” to great applause. Her other partner, actor/director/husband, Hal Blankenship, joined her to duet on Johnny Mercer’s song and dance vaudeville turn “Two Of A Kind.” Talk about teamwork! The interplay between them was palpable and genuinely touching. You don’t want to miss this light-hearted entertainment in the pleasant little “Back Room” at Mama’s.