Josh Piven’s "Headbangers Vs. Hipsters” Play May Represent A Low Point In Both Ideas And Press Releases
You may be familiar with Philly writer Josh Piven, whose series of Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks jumpstarted Quirk Books, which has since become an indie publishing juggernaut. But in the days since Worst Case, Piven has branched out into playwrighting, where he's had some success as well. All of it is well and good, but for his new one, Piven seems to be playing buzzword Scrabble in a way that, in the space of seconds, made us, um, Yelp. You will pardon the wordplay, we're just trying to grin our way through this one. To wit (our bolds):
THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK AUTHOR PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERE OF STAGE COMEDY MUDDLED AT DREXEL URBN ANNEX JUNE 16-26, 2016
Philadelphia, PA – New York Times best-selling humorist Josh Piven brings his unique brand of comedy to Philadelphia with the world premiere of Muddled, A Stage Comedy, from June 16 through June 26 at Drexel URBN Annex ( 3401 Filbert St). Penned by the author of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook and directed by William Steinberger, Muddled gives theater audiences a best-case scenario for what happens when a group of hot-headed headbangers meet the home-grown hipsters of Brooklyn. In this craft brewed comedy, Piven trades navigating alligator pits for navigating mosh pits, and surviving frostbite for surviving the frosty bite of a quick-witted hipster. [...]
After being fired from Facebook for some drunken twerking at Mark Zuckerberg's wedding, Andy decides he's done with social media, for good. He throws his savings into Library, a 1920s-style cocktail lounge in Brooklyn, with a no cell phone policy. Late one night, Tricky Nicky Slick Andy's long-lost father and former drummer for the 80s hair-band Black Widow appears, claiming he wants to make amends with Andy and Tina, Andy's mother, who waitresses at the bar. Nicky embarks on a business plan to turn the wainscoted, bookcase-lined supper club into an 80s-style Miami Vice-inspired nightmare...but something else is afoot.
Oh yes. Something else is afoot indeed. And it seems to be looking for a mouth, or an ass. If nothing that was said in any of the above gave you bad touch, tickets are available for Muddled here. But please, especially if you are a young playwright, do not take anything you read here as encouragement for you to finish writing that topical social media play you've been toying with. No, this is not that. This is the opposite of that.