How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
Comedian and actress Erica Watson's one-woman show "Fat Bitch!" is a modified stand-up routine sprinkled with morsels of slam poetry. It's consistently entertaining, but, like many stand-up performances, it doesn't provide much fulfillment beyond that.
Though it takes a little while to gain momentum, the show has some terrific observations. Watson said she is sick of people commenting that she has a beautiful face, thus implying that the rest of her full figure is busted. She expresses her desire to cast off the "Super Mammy" caricature the media uses to portray black women. Many of her ideas are humorous on the surface and depressing at the core, but she has trouble tying everything together into a cohesive manifesto.
The show also loses some steam when it trails off into the land of penis envy. In one segment of Watson's tirade, after she's done talking about how much she loves and enjoys penises, she claims having a penis gives men an inherent desire to control other people. The argument is unwarranted and poorly explained, and is especially problematic in a show that preaches for the abolishment of stereotypes and judgments.
The show's conclusion is another major misstep. She brings a piece of film evidence from her 21st birthday to prove to the audience that all the stories she's told in her act are, as mortifying as it is to say, very much true. This is unnecessary. A performer's act, however much it toes the line between fiction and reality, should never need to be proven. Listening to Watson tell a story about a mailman moonlighting as a stripper is much funnier and more convincing than watching a video of it for five minutes.
There is no doubt that Erica Watson is gut-bustingly funny, but it feels as if the actress is selling her talent short by limiting herself to a mostly stand-up style. The show never reaches the audience in the subtly heartfelt way that Watson was clearly aiming for between all the raunchiness and swearing. It's perfect if you are looking for a good time, but Watson's writing isn't yet nuanced or insightful enough to provoke much more.
"Fat Bitch!" is playing at the Laurie Beechman Theatre (inside West Bank Café, 407 W. 42nd St.) on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets ($15, plus a $15 food/drink minimum) are available at spincyclenyc.com or by calling 212.352.3101.
