Baron Vaughn/Phoebe Robinson (Comedy) @ Amphibian Stage
—Jill Sweeney
[Editorial note: We don’t have a “Comedy” section at Onstage NTX. It doesn’t come up that often, and even if it did, we’d need more writers. So, because both Baron Vaughn and Phoebe Robinson are storytellers of a sort, we’ve classified them temporarily as “Theater” people. Jill Sweeney writes about the experience….]
If I had to pick a word for the general mood of the two comedians headlining Amphibian Stage’s 2023 Comic Residency program, honesty compels me to say the word would be “tired.” Possibly, if I extend my take to a phrase, “fucking tired.” And that is not a dig: after the last few years, “tired” seems just about right.
Fortunately, Baron Vaughn and Phoebe Robinson, both known primarily as stand-ups but with a diversified portfolio of other projects (TV shows, podcasts, businesses, etc.), have the skill to mine comedy out of how exhausting and topsy-turvy the world seems at the moment, and they used the intimate space at Amphibian very well—to game out new bits for future sets, and to offer us a surprisingly vulnerable window into their respective creative processes.
Vaughn’s openers were Scott Crisp, who had the audience guffawing with his DFW-focused set, and Dusti Rhodes, an English teacher whose traditional day job made for quite the contrast with her raunchy bits on dating and anal sex.
Vaughn, who worked with Amphibian to create its annual residency program in 2017, may be best known to audiences for his work on the Netflix series Grace and Frankie, where he plays the adopted son of Lily Tomlin’s hippy-dippy Frankie, or his role as legal assistant Leonardo Prince on the USA Network series Fairly Legal. But although Vaughn is a classically trained actor (he made his Broadway debut in a play starring Alfre Woodard and Anthony Mackie), he’s probably most famous for his stand-up, a rapid-fire mix of pop-culture references with headier social commentary around race, mental illness, philosophy and more.
The set I saw was looser than I’d seen from him in the past, with Vaughn clearly workshopping new material and frequently referring to notes in his phone. But it didn’t detract from the audience’s enjoyment a bit, as Vaughn moved fluidly from a virtuoso impression of vaudevillian comedian Ed Wynn had he pursued a medical career instead (you had to be there), to the anxiety of existing as a Black man in America, to his diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum. Vaughn, if a little more subdued than in previous appearances, was still a delight to watch.
Robinson’s openers were new-to-the-area comedian Lilli Lopez, who had a slightly laid-back style, but amused with bits on dating “rescues” in her 20s rather than “forever pets,” and Jordan J., with an equally laconic style but a good handle on crowd work.
Robinson, a stand-up, author, podcaster, and producer, brought a hilarious sort of world-weary frustration to the stage, and although she mused several times that she was having trouble getting a read on the crowd, created a warm call-and-response relationship with the audience. Like Vaughn, she was clearly developing new material and frequently checked in with us on what we were enjoying as she riffed, for example, on the exhaustion of being a “girlboss” versus the option (pro and con) of seeking out a sugar daddy in her late 30s.
Her goofy, unpretentious style and practical approach towards sex (she’d like to try facesitting, but is her core strength up to it these days?) had the audience in stitches, and a final Q-and-A with the audience led to one of the funniest moments of the night, an exchange with a thrice-married, self-professed “cougar” who met her decade-younger husband of twenty years at an illegal casino. (He worked there.) Robinson was hilariously flabbergasted. The comedian, who created and produced a semi-autobiographical TV show about her life in 2022 titled “Everything’s Trash” brings a messy but grounded humor to the stage, and an exhaustion that most modern women can empathize with.
So, another excellent edition of the Amphibian Comic Residency series, which ought to spark similar programs in other cities, if they’re paying attention. Top-flight stand-up talent in an intimate venue: what’s not to love?
WHEN: Closed (until next time!)
WHERE: Amphibian Stage, 120 S Main St, Fort Worth, TX 76104
WEB: amphibianstage.org
