“Fantastically entertaining AND completely delicious! Each of your characters offers thought-provoking and clever satire that keeps your audience engaged, laughing and salivating for whatever comes next! It was wonderful way to spend the afternoon!”
******
“A Brilliant One-Man Show: A Journey of Laughter, Insight, and Culinary Delight
From start to finish, this one-man show was a stunning blend of poignant storytelling, sharp wit, and creative genius. The performance was a masterclass in versatility, seamlessly weaving together humor, emotion, and intellect, all while inviting the audience to indulge in a sensory feast that went beyond the stage.
Despite an unexpected power outage just before the performance began, the show never missed a beat. The performer’s ability to adapt and keep the energy high in the face of technical difficulty was a testament to both their professionalism and sheer charisma. The power went out, but the magic of the night remained undeterred.
Part of what made this show truly special was its innovative incorporation of food. Each course served during the performance was more than just the food—it was a part of the experience, thoughtfully composed to complement the creation unfolding on stage. The dishes were imaginative and delicious, each bite a testament to the creativity of the performance as a whole. It was a rare experience where the line between theater and dining are blurred, creating a truly immersive atmosphere.
The humor was quick and insightful, often catching you off guard with its cleverness. Yet the show also had moments of real emotional depth, making it not only hilarious but also profoundly touching. The combination of comedy, storytelling, and food made for a performance that felt both intimate and grand, thought-provoking and lighthearted.
This was a one-man show like no other—moving, hilarious, and daringly inventive. The power may have gone out, but the brilliance of this performance shone through in ways that will be remembered long after the final course.”
******
“Steve Engel’s Bad Idea is one of the best ideas I have experienced in a long time. It is creative, funny, and emotionally involving. Steve performs a series of sketches, enhanced with simple props and a mixture of old and new stagecraft. The characters manifest various aspects of popular culture and display Steve’s dry wit; many of the sketches involve tensions between rhetorical expectation and context of situation, and the result is laughter. The performance takes place in a cafe setting, accompanied by a set meal with four courses every bit as thoughtful and tasty as the show itself.”
******
“Steve Engel’s Bad Idea is, and I hesitate to say this, because everything is subjective, and opinions are like, you know, and who am I even? Who am I? An expert, on many things, to be totally honest, a long and boring list–listing is one of the subjects of my expertise, which is also subjective. Expertise (not lists), entirely subjective, unless you have a certificate, and certification just so happens to be another subject of my expertise, on account of the many certificates I have acquired in my brief-but-expert time, which certificates I keep in my Certification Room, which is a characteristically modest term, as it is more of a Certification Shrine: northern exposure, mid-century modern furniture and appointments, imported from 1955 (hence), and no shoes! No shoes in the Certification Room (shrine)! Nothing against shoes, mind you, but it is difficult to separate the shoes from the dirt upon which the shoes have trodden, much like it is difficult to separate the expert from the expertise! Platonic forms, lacunae, that little sumpin sumpin, just sitting there in front of you, like a hot dog on the sidewalk. The sun sets, casting certificates shadows across my musing face, smiling to my expert face as I sit in my 71 year old chair. Perfection? Something more perfect? Can the sublimity of perfection be quantified? Or vice versa? Regard it. Hold it. Cherish it. Rub it in your eyeballs, even up there under your eyelids. Know the now vision of knowing, and see it. See it with the rubbed-in eyeballs of a child. Or a Pope.
[This could go on longer. Perhaps until I find the offramp.]
Steve Engel’s Bad Idea is easily the finest and most memorable show I have not yet seen.”