Good morning, and welcome to Broadway News’ Broadway Review by Brittani Samuel — our overview of reactions, recommendations and information tied to Dec. 22’s Broadway opening of “All In: Comedy About Love.”
RUNDOWN
Comedy is risky business, but Simon Rich’s starry “All In: Comedy About Love” is a safer bet. It’s designed to charm, not challenge, making it the mellowest comedy special of late.
As the title indicates, the show maintains a throughline of the coziest talking point of all: love. That’s the only commonality, though, as the script — which draws from Rich’s sprawling collection of essays and short stories — is episodic rather than serial. The cast (at my show: John Mulaney, Fred Armisen, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Richard Kind) cycles through an anthology of funny chapters which vary in length, strength and intrigue. These actors transform — donning different vocal cadences and quirks with glee — into babies with adult vocabularies, pirates who wax poetic about parenting and hopelessly romantic dogs. Though some speeches run long, this is easy work for the pros, and they’re expectedly faultless. Director Alex Timbers keeps the gang glued to their seats — irkingly so. As you watch actors squirm and sink into their assigned armchairs, scripts in hand, it’s impossible not to wonder what choices a more active show might inspire.
