This past Tuesday, I had the fortune to attend The Rejection Show, held (for the last time) at Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction on Avenue A. The show has been going on for some time now, as the founder, Jon Friedman, has kept improving and promoting it. If you check his website, the amount of media he’s gotten is impressive (and his interviews are funny). Also, a little birdie told me you should search YouTube for Michael Winslow to see Friedman in action.
The concept of the show is to explore the problem of being rejected. I was about to write that rejection happens to those of us who put ourselves out there (like me, with my writing), but truthfully, it happens to us all, everywhere. Maybe the worst rejection is the unexpected one– the friend who suddenly drops you, or the job you get laid off from. For me, I’ve been trying, as best as I know how, to get little pieces of writing published. One of my problems is I cannot narrow my focus. I don’t want to be just a diet writer, or a food writer, or a music writer, or a satire writer. I kind of see myself as covering all those areas and more, but truthfully, I know this is not a good strategy. I need to pick a beat, and stick with it.

Anyway, back to rejection. Last night’s show was funny, touching, funny, poignant, funny, hilarious, funny, sad and funny fucking funny. From Desiree Burch, who shared a long list of every man she’s ever slept with that didn’t return her call (one guy was apparently short and hairy, and according to Desiree, sleeping with him was exactly what you’d expect from sleeping with someone who’s short and hairy), to Wendy Spero’s insane tale of a landlady who seems to treat her life as one long (long) legal brief, every performer had an incredible tale of dealing with the phenomenon of rejection.

I have to mention Carolita Johnson’s performance too. She did a monlogue complete with drawings (she’s a New Yorker cartoonist), about her experience transforming from an ugly duckling, picked on kid to an international fashion model. That’s like saying Moby Dick is a book about a whale. Her story had depth and was well executed. Nothing says revenge like drawing a zit faced cartoon of your grade school tormentor hurling invective (and including her full name, yes you, Karen Zipkowitz). I won’t give away the rest, because I hope many more people get a chance to see her show.

So, the good news is that the Rejection Show will be back on September 16th. The better news is that it will be in the Spiegeltent at the Seaport, which holds many more people. I highly recommend you mark it in the ol’ Daytimer.