Colin Quinn Long Story Short at the Helen Hayes Theatre

Colin Quinn recently moved his solo show Colin Quinn Long Story Short to Broadway after a brief engagement Off-Broadway at the 45 Bleeker Theater in NoHo.  The show is currently in previews for a November 9th opening.  I am no fan of Colin Quinn, but this show does have its moments.  The first moment was when I arrived to pick up my comp tickets and they came with a drink ticket.  Score!
My friend and I grabbed our souvenir cups full of vodka and headed to our seats.  The Helen Hayes is a small house, so even though the seats were towards the back and side they  were still decent.  As we sipped our cocktails I started imagining how much nicer the Hayes might be with a little restoration work.  I was telling my friend about the Belasco's renovation as we guessed what might be hiding under the Hayes' thick red paint. This daydreaming was short lived as the lights quickly dimmed and the show began.

Colin Quinn Long Story Short uses world civilizations as a jumping off point for an extended stand up act.  The Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Mayans, French, and various other civilizations are used as a point of reference for 75 minutes of observational humor.  Some of these bits are quite funny, some like a bit about Snooki losing her cellphone fall completely flat.  My friend and I definitely laughed more than we expected and had quite a few "that is so true!" moments as well.  Others in the audience, including a gentleman somewhere in the balcony, sounded dangerously close to wetting themselves from laughing so hard.  My guess is they are also the type to race home to watch those reruns of Seinfeld that are always advertised on the subway (Jerry Seinfeld, by the way, is the shows director.)  I have not considered watching an episode of Seinfeld since sometime in the mid-90s, but I still had a good time.  The show was short enough to end before my vodka buzz had worn off.

This whole run seems like publicity for the inevitable filmed comedy special that is sure to come... "Direct from a hit run on Broadway..."  It might actually be better on TV where they could flesh it out a bit with sketches or animation.  Even without improvements, there is no compelling reason to see the show live unless you are a die-hard Colin Quinn fan.  Save your $98 and spend it on a DVD and some vodka.  If you laugh/drink hard enough, you just might wet yourself.

Want to see for yourself?  Click here for tickets