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For the star of a one-woman show, Naomi Grossman has quite the orgy on stage, leading a captive audience through a kinky carnival freak show like no other. While the “single girl looking for love or sex in the city” story line has been vastly overdone in both the literary and theatrical realms, Carnival Knowledge dispels the myth that this plot can’t still entertain.
Having never before seen a one-person show, I was intrigued by Grossman’s story-telling  vessel, an un-manned ticket booth (no pun intended), in which she produced oversized tickets to advertise each of her nightmarish past relationships. From “Hell No Trader Joe” to a not-so “Happy Ending,” Grossman recounts her surprisingly idiosyncratic experiences of dating in Los Angeles.
A firecracker of energy, she’s quick with her wordplay, so if you’re not completely focused, you may miss some of Grossman’s most clever jokes. But her performance is not limited to a witty monologue. She also utilizes the well-decorated yet tiny stage in creative ways, manipulating apple boxes to change scenes as appropriate, eliminating any plot or character-driven confusion the audience of a one-person show might typically accrue. And while Lucille Ball likely wouldn’t find it proper to perform in such a sexually explicit show, Grossman has Ball’s same knack for physical humor, whether she’s rocking an extreme yoga pose or illustrating an intense variation on the missionary position.
This show is not solely a slapstick comedy act about sex, however. Grossman has based her whole journey of finding a healthy and loving relationship on her parents’ supposedly happy marriage. When her parents’ world comes crashing down, her own heart crumbles as she relives the emotion on stage. Her vulnerability is honest and unsettling, bringing the audience from a hilarious extended stand-up routine to the dramatic reality that love is not easy, nor is it set in stone.
It takes great bravery to share such intimate details of one’s personal life with a theatre full of complete strangers, and while Grossman is not physically naked, she does let it all hang out – quite literally in fact, when she opens the show playing “Whack-a-Weenie” with a multicultural group of dildos. She truly has no shame at sharing some of her most humiliating moments; if her cheeks flushed at all, it was invisible to the wide-eyed audience howling with laughter.
Grossman’s performance is not only believable, but strangely recognizable to those of us who have also suffered through on-again off-again singledom in the city of angels. In just 70 minutes, this talented actress takes you on a journey through “love, lust and other human oddities” that has the same satisfying effect as watching a sexually-driven Judd Apatow comedy.
This show is not for the bashful, the elderly, or the pure, so leave your virginity and the kiddies at home, grab a bag of cotton candy and head on down to Carnival Knowledge. For a good time, call 323-930-1804 or visit The Lex Theatre in Hollywood Sundays at 7 pm through November 8th.
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