Terms like "genuine laughter," "insight," and "community-building" beg to be associated with linger, but I can't let them get into this review. They conjure bad summer-camp exercises, sensitivity seminars, and the vacuous language of those who would consciousness-raise us into an uncritical, shit-eating grintopia. Often goofy, Kaufmann deftly avoids falling into the saccharine trap. And those terms are so appropriate, in their most honest and least pernicious sense, to linger.
The show explores what "being in the moment"--that slippery aspiration of acting teachers and love-yourself-types--might actually mean. Kaufmann does this by breaking down the continuity of his life, with the help of a pager, into randomly selected individual moments. When the pager goes off, he writes about whatever he is thinking and doing at the moment. From these scraps of his life, he draws (literally--having audience members pull them from a box during the show) material, and builds constellations on a dual-axis grid of joy-discontent and light-dark. Future selves, discussions of acting theory, and a few pleasantly sloppy songs join the exercise to make this potential Hindenburg performance original, engaging, and really, really funny.
Throughout, those in the $7 seats have the option to play with him a little: answering questions, reading letters, making suggestions, though the humiliation factor runs at zero--which is a rare feat for a show that gets laughs from moments between a performer and a slightly confused audience member. linger is good. Really good. Go, sign the contract, and give John Kaufmann all 10 of your dollars. He deserves them.
