Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...John Kolvenbach’s “Stand Up” is, to say the least, an interactive show. (The title can be taken literally.) This 65-minute attraction, likely to appeal to fans of the neo-absurdist likes of Will Eno but less ephemeral, does not call on volunteers in order to do shtick with the audience. Rather, it attempts to genuinely interrogate what it means to come back, live, to the theater when, as Ortlieb’s character notes at the beginning, there is now the “siren song of streaming” with which to contend, along with other good reasons to stay home."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Jim Ortlieb gives a dynamic, charismatic, often sleight-of-hand performance as an unnamed guru making a direct appeal to the intimately spaced Theater Wit audience: he can offer us the spiritual peace we seek, if only we follow along. When it becomes clear that his plan is going awry—or maybe that we aren’t who he has hoped we’d be—Ortlieb’s character must improvise to take us away to the promised land. Kolvenbach’s playful, esoteric, sometimes self-serious monologue lends itself to plenty of equally convincing interpretations, including the vital but tumultuous relationship stage performers have with their art form right now as the world creeps in and out of hermetically-sealed hibernation.'
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...When the actor says his first line and the audience roars with delight, you know you are in for a treat. STAND UP IF YOU'RE HERE TONIGHT by John Kolvenbach at American Theater Company packs many zingers and laughs into an hour. The clever script crackles with timely wit, and a masterly comic, Jim Ortlieb, has the audience in the palm of his hand."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow
- Recommended
"...A one-person theatrical performance has to engage its audience continuously. If there are monotonous moments, the comedian can lose the audience’s focus, never getting them to return from the inner thoughts within their mind that will drift off if unattended. This can happen to the best entertainer, and even though some may get lost in translation, Ortlieb’s ‘Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight’ pokes fun at everyday life, which will cause laughter and free you from the scrutiny of life."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...This is truly an immersive work of art. Ortlieb uses his face and body to capture our gazes. We fear looking away might just get us called on. But I must say, he is clever in what and how he does this. For example, he asked me my name, but had another person ( one of the Saints) assume that name to do a skit. He did this several times, getting audience members involved, on the stage and from their seats. He had us standing and sitting, hand clapping, sighing, making sounds that combined with the other half of the audience resembled the sound of a dial tone on a telephone- wow, we had fun!"
WTTW
- Highly Recommended
"...There is more than a touch of genius on display in the American Blues Theater’s production of “Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight.” And that genius must be equally credited to the conceptual magic of playwright/director John Kolvenbach and to Jim Ortlieb, a veteran Chicago actor with a slew of Broadway, film and TV credits, whose wholly riveting performance as the universally named Man is simply phenomenal. A true tour de force turn."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...The plot of this hour-long presentation is minimal, although a tiny fragment of a story begins to emerge toward the end. Suffice it to say this is fascinating piece of participation theatre that’s the perfect antidote for being shut-in for so long. Although mask-wearing and proof of vaccination against Covid are required, Jim Ortlieb does a crackerjack job of leading viewers out of their doldrums and everyday problems, while immersing everyone in a collaborative community experience. It’s a refreshing piece of theatre that’s creative, unique and an evening that audiences will never forget."
PicksInSix
- Highly Recommended
"...Written during the tumultuous, unpredictable emotional ebb and flow of the pandemic, “Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight” poetically identifies and addresses the enduring, underlying fears we’ve discovered and developed communally and individually—questions about trust, self-worth, and purpose. In only 60 minutes, “Stand Up” helps us explore and laugh at the shocking and relatable shared idiosyncrasies that have been enhanced during our time of distancing and isolation."
Picture This Post
- Recommended
"...This man is just called that, Man and is played by Jim Ortlieb. The desk he began at stands in front of a mountain of wooden chairs. They start low on the right and then climb higher and higher, stacked on each other up to the left, almost to the ceiling. Bare incandescent bulbs are placed sporadically throughout this structure and light up the scene."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...For theatergoers switching off Zoom and returning—perhaps a tad anxiously—to live events, writer-director John Kolvenbach’s “Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight” is the perfect transitional play. Featuring a bravura performance by Jim Ortlieb, this (basically) one-man show, making its Chicago debut, is all about getting reacquainted with the joys, stresses and sheer sensation of real life after a too-long hibernation."
