“Mr. Martin is peerless at crafting tiny wit bombs...But unless you’re Oscar Wilde, tiny wit bombs do not make a satisfying play…It would be more satisfying if Mr. Martin had found a way to maintain character integrity while developing his bigger ideas and also remaining funny...Mr. Zaks tries, turning out a production so bright and chipper you can hardly stop to worry about its contents. In the process, though, he sets the wrong tone — a sitcom tone, with everything but a laugh track.”
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“Martin’s writing veers in and out of realism—scenes sometimes stop, restart and go in different directions—which lets the playwright throw in some gutsy twists...The show zigzags across lanes with relentless speed with help from an expert cast...Despite a somewhat strained attempt to explain itself at the end, ‘Meteor Shower’ never quite coalesces into a convincing whole. Its entertaining moments blaze, then disappear into an empty sky.”
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“A blithely wackadoodle new comedy...A fizz of naughty, good-natured absurdity...Schumer’s the bubbly, blinking heart of the show...Keegan-Michael Key is as brazenly entertaining...May not be groundbreaking, but comedy doesn’t have to be revelatory to work. And Martin’s particular brand of humor is loopy enough to keep us interested...You could do far worse than spend 80 minutes chuckling and groaning in the company of this game foursome of actors."
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"Mr. Martin isn’t a bad playwright, but he isn’t a good one, either, and 'Meteor Shower,' a pseudo-surrealistic four-hander...is no more than very mildly amusing...Zaks, who’s been directing on Broadway for three decades, could have staged this one in his sleep, but he didn’t: He makes sure that every gag detonates on the nose, thus making the script seem somewhat sharper than it is."
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“One of the funniest, and wildest, games of social and sexual one-upsmanship...Every element in Zaks’ production is working at full throttle...Schumer exhibits flawless comic timing in this quartet of master practitioners under the assured direction of Zaks, a funny businessman nonpareil...There’s method in Martin’s madness, which is to set you off-kilter while drawing you into this brief, satisfying lunacy. Resistance is futile.”
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“Schumer’s deft and daffy performance is a bright spot in ‘Meteor Shower…The play is heavy with absurdity and modestly laced with laughs. But it has the lightweight feel of an extended, if not overextended, skit…The cast of Broadway rookies, including Schumer and Key, who aces his blowhard Alpha-male role, and stage vets click…Director Jerry Zaks keeps the show moving lickety-split. Even so, by the time “Meteor Shower” runs its course, the laughs have pretty much dried up.”
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“Schumer’s choice delivery of Martin’s one-liners prop up this endearingly gawky comedy about mirror-image married couples...Martin has a flair for surreal comedy — a style that suits ‘Meteor Shower’...Clever lines and canny body language only get you so far, and there comes a point when this lightweight comedy just gives up and implodes on itself from lack of thought and direction...‘Meteor Shower’ could use a few more scenes to get its head together.”
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“Schumer is one of four terrific performers who juice the entertainment of this high-sheen production...But neither director nor cast can disguise the lack of substance in the padded sketch material...More like improv-comedy fodder than grist for a full-length play...There are plenty of laughs here — just no credible basis...that go beyond loopy absurdist parody...The production's chief reward is its deluxe cast, whose infectious energy helps fortify the flimsy material.”
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