I’ll have what Billy Crystal’s having--stamina. In his show, Mr. Saturday Night, the comedian/ actor/ Oscar host sings and dances with flair, if not youthful energy. Shuffle, low-key moonwalk, at least the man—now in his ‘70’s-- has moves, which makes the show’s premise very funny. With a career on the skids, his character, Buddy Young, Jr., performs at old age homes, cajoling his audience, that is all of us at the packed Nederlander Theater, with ageing jokes. Because he is adept at his act, having had a hit show at the dawn of television, his jokes land. And with his family backstory, he asks his wife Elaine (a wonderful Randy Graff), his straight man/ manager brother (fine David Paymer), his daughter (excellent Shoshana Bean) and agent (terrific Chasten Harmon): did you see what I did? Explaining his timing, his verbal and visual diversions, he teaches a master class in comedy, a side plus to this highly entertaining show.
Alert: this is not a stand-up act, which you might expect from comics coming to Broadway—think Jackie Mason. Mr. Saturday Night has a narrative, maybe it’s corny: how Buddy met Elaine in the Catskills, his fraught relationships with just about everyone. But curmudgeons are loveable anyway, and when at the 1994 Oscars, he shows up on the In Memorium reel, well, you can imagine how that mistaken death kicks off some pretty funny bits. And, there’s a backup act too: a trio of stock types (Jordan Gelber, Brian Gonzales, Mylinda Hull)—the recurring showbiz antics will be a nostalgic send-up for anyone who was watching in tv’s nascent years. It all makes for a fun night with laughs all the way.
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