"This solo show from Evan Zes may just be the surprise thriller of the festival. It's thrilling because it deals with the shady underbelly of New York City's most tawdry industry: real estate…An average Joe with a dirty sense of humor, Zes knows how to spin a yarn, adding layers of intrigue until we are not sure whom to trust…You'll laugh at Zes' grotesque portrayals of his neighbors and roommates and cringe at the way the big sharks of Manhattan real estate devour us minnows."
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“At first seems like a well-rehearsed monologue rather than a full show. This stiffness quickly melts away, however, to reveal a dangerously hilarious actor/writer with a clear ability to capture an audience...It is his performance that makes the piece, in more ways than one. With such a simple set-up, Zes needs to be near perfect in order to maintain interest, a task he easily accomplishes...A highly enjoyable piece with a wonderful performer at the helm.”
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“Zes, as it turns out, is a winning performer - as funny and foul-mouthed as a stand-up and as skilled in storytelling as any Moth champion. He is also talented in mimicry, portraying some 30 characters in his engaging tale that is as much about the life of a struggling actor as it is about his adventures as a housing hustler. Add to that a self-deprecating persona that is as often disarmingly frank as it is funny.”
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"The self-described 'fuckin’ actor' with a 'worthless MFA in fuckin’ acting' is eminently likeable, completely natural, and thoroughly entertaining,..Underlying the humor, Zes slyly acknowledges both the diversity and the economic disparity that define the melting-pot culture of NYC...Those are issues to which a lot of people in the arts, and in New York, can relate, that visitors will find illuminating, and that will leave everyone rooting for this delightful (if not 100% ethical!) underdog."
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"Zes unfurls a whopper of a rent control anecdote...Zes has a cheerfully profane, blithely fatalistic way of narrating all of this, and when the plot thickens, it allows him to do more voices...In a town where housing is at such a premium, who doesn’t love a good apartment tale?...He’s an engaging host, and the pretty-happy ending is very gratifying."
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