Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...But there is nothing fussy or forced about most of the acting. And "Funnyman" really is a shrewdly penned and highly involving affair that captures a moment of momentous change in art, even as it probes the universal truth that comedians rarely have funny lives. In one late scene, when Drinkall and Wendt are going at it about who did what to whom, Wendt seems to sink into his seat, overcome by 50 shades of gray."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Other aspects of the play are more intriguing. For starters there is the bond between Chick and Milt - funny in its "Odd Couple" argumentativeness, but rooted in the fact that the real bond here is built on personal tragedies. Best of all, there is the play's deeply troubled father-daughter relationship."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The story that might matter-Sherman's daughter Katharine's struggle to understand her parents' tragic past- is more schematic than intriguing. Director B J Jones's overly polite production springs to life only when Rob Lindley's flamboyant absurdist playwright arrives and misbehaves."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Funnyman is a decently endearing ode to old-school entertainers and the dual life of funny men; Wendt captures that dichotomy between Chick's "on" persona and his gruff, tired "off" state. Oddly, though, Graham takes a disparaging view of more modern theatrical ideas, with Steve Haggard's new-school director serving as a target of ridicule. But it's the relationship between Chick and daughter Katharine that's the heart of the play, with Drinkall as an empathetic investigator searching for her father's hidden heart."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Funnyman is an insightful take on a transformational period in theatre history. At times Graham labors a bit hard to emphasize Chick’s nobility, but he’s such a curmudgeon, the impulse to go too far balancing him by granting him twenty-first century attitudes is understandable. However, the more extreme aspects of Chick’s backstory are grounded in the actual tumultuous lives of silver screen stars, and big emotions are appropriate in a work that contrasts the commercial and experimental theatres. I would have liked to have seen more of Chick’s artistic development, since despite his disdain for the new practices, he must have absorbed a little of them. But what the script provides, BJ Jones directs into a fine production."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...I suppose people seeing the name George Wendt on the billboard for a play titled “Funnyman” will enter the theater ready to hear the old familiar “Norm” called out as the lights come up. After all, most people know him for the role he created on “Cheers” all those years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, please be advised that Mr. Wendt is indeed an actor and can play many roles, which he more than proves in this beautiful story about a fading vaudeville comic who many only remember from his signature “Yowzer” ! Could this tight story written by Bruce Graham, now on the stage at Northlight Theatre, in reality be “his own story”?"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This fine production is staged by BJ Jones with care and compassion, allowing his six experienced actors to live naturally through Bruce Graham’s well-scripted characters. Mr. Jones has gently tapped into the comedy while still bringing the play’s tender, affecting sentiment to the forefront. This production is a theatrical triumph for both George Wendt and Tim Kazurinsky and offers a wonderful opportunity for audiences to enjoy the talents of these two terrific actors, as well as their supporting cast."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Somewhat Recommended
"...Wendt needs to lighten up his interpretation of Sherman to allow more humor to come through. Additional exchanges with Kazurinsky could set the tone for a funnier play, though the melodrama of the battle between Sherman and his daughter subverts the opportunity for any extended comedy. In any case, “Funnyman” as it now stands doesn’t sufficiently work either as a comedy or a drama or even as a hybrid of the two."
