Next I saw August Van Meekeren’s show Apples: As Told By An Expert. August Van Meekeren is really exploring a concept in this show instead of purely constructing a narrative or doing a stand up routine. They are playing with the concept of truth and fiction as it relates both to autobiographical storytelling and also standup. How much do performers take liberties with the truth from their lives and shape it, exaggerate it, change it all together, and at any point do they owe the audience a disclaimer? Van Meekeren is also touching on an underlying theme of at what point do you decide that your real life isn’t interesting enough, isn’t funny enough, that you need to dramatically change it in order to make it more palatable for an audience? And what effect does that have on someone’s own self esteem?

The challenge in Apples is that much of it is designed on purpose to be awkward, as we see Van Meekeren judging their own material as not being funny or sharp or insightful enough, especially for stand up, and pivoting instead to telling these three very engaging stories that also aren’t necessarily meant to be hilarious, but that have compelling narrative arcs, and are harrowing and disturbing at times, and none of which have anything to do with apples- which they are shamed for by a secondary character. If the audience is hooked into the conceit, there’s a great bait and switch moment near the end of the show that works well, and Van Meekeren has really accomplished, I think, what they set out to do- I just wonder if you don’t get the conceit of the piece it might be a little bit confusing. Click the link for full review!