Not That Jewish: A One-Woman Romp Featuring Monica Piper

Monica Piper’s father told her she was funny. He was right. A solo show can be a really big risk, but Piper makes it look easy. With just a single prop (it’s a surprise) and projections showing her son, parents, grandmother—and Mickey Mantle, Piper captures the audience within minutes of taking the stage and keeps them in the palm of her hand for the 90-minute tour-de-force called Not That Jewish.

How can you resist a veteran comedienne and writer who tells you she took her stage name from a sign? (Santa Monica Pier.) Or who tells you in her Playbill listing that she was a Campfire Girl…in  the Bronx. “You sense your life isn’t normal when you’re sitting on the D train with a bag of marshmallows and a twig.”

Onstage Monica shares the story of her life, growing up “not that Jewish” with a loving family and particularly a doting father who entertained all his life—and passed his gift to his daughter. With her  rare gift for timing and finding humor in everything from birth to death, Monica keeps you laughing—or smiling, whether she’s talking about birth, death or serious illness. Example: Upon learning she had breast cancer, Monica says: “I had wanted to live long enough to be a burden to someone.”

Piper’s writing career includes such shows as Mad About You, Roseanne, Veronica’s Closet, Duckman and Rugrats (for which she won an Emmy). After doing standup on Showtime’s Comedy All Stars, she landed her own award-winning special, No, Monica…Just You.

As an artist-in-residence with the Jewish Women’s Theatre in Los Angeles, Monica developed Not That Jewish, which ran for 16 sold-out months in L.A. and was nominated for Best Solo Performance by the L.A Drama Critics Circle and Stage Raw.

So take my word that this is a guaranteed good time and get to the New World Stages in New York City. You definitely don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy every minute of a show that is funny, tender and heartwarming all at the same time.