Laughing with History

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Image: christianlawrence.net

History Shmistory!

History Shmistory!, as described by its creator, St. Louis comic/producer/host Christian Lawrence, is “a live comedy show where comics perform as a historical figure, in costume, in character.” 

Within that elevator pitch of a description, Lawrence leaves ample room for individual interpretation within his inventive conceit. Lawrence says, “I tried to make a show that was a weird take on a stand-up show but put the responsibility of the production on the performers.” Part of those participating comics' responsibility is putting together the costume for whomever he or she is portraying. 

Curious comedy lovers can experience how six local stand-ups interpret figures ranging from ancient Rome to contemporary Milwaukee as comical figures on Thursday February 9 when History Shmistory! comes to The Laughing Tap (706 Fifth St.) for a 7:30 p.m. performance. Lawrence’s insistence on working wiih talent from the cities where he brings his show is cost effective and allows for the comedians and venue to build grass roots support for the HS! 

“Their promotion of the show will be more effective than me promoting from afar,” Lawrence explains, “and it’s less hassle than me bringing an entire touring company with me. I just set up shop, meet everyone and put the show up.”

Crapshoot Set-up 

What Lawrence sets is up the kind of crapshoot that, as evidenced by the ample number of Shmistory! segments available on YouTube, overwhelming becomes a hoot. 

With only one directive—"comics performing as historical figures, in costume, in character,” as Lawrence puts it—the humorists who become part of Shmiswtory!'s panoply of personalities are given freedom to interpret the subjects they choose with no real oversight from Lawrence. “As long as what the comic does fits within those guidelines, I don’t care what they do.

“This gives the show the sense of chaos that I love to see, and it gives the comics a writing opportunity and/or a venue for something they’ve had up their sleeve for a while but didn’t have a safe venue for," Lawrence says of his creation, which has toured several U.S. cities and London since its inception. It’s doubtful that in any other setting one can see comedic interpretations of characters far flung as chess-playing computer Deep Blue, one of the criminals crucified next to Jesus Christ and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. Random as any HS! may seem, Lawrence provides some context as to how so varied a cast can share the same stage. 

“Since I also host the show,” Lawrence shares, “I’ve been adding more and more of a narrative or through-line. The idea is that Christian—me, the host, but in character—owns a time machine and is using it to steal historical figures from the past and forcing them on stage to perform comedy. This host character isn’t behaving maliciously, but rather from the sense of  ‘Hey, this would be cool’ and then behaving very poorly.”

Those absconded by Lawrence's chronology-defying contraption at The Laughing Tap will be Abigail Adams (portrayed by Amy Brophy Westrup), John Wilkes Booth (David Louis), Caligula (John Berens), Laika the Russian space dog (Luise Noe), Captain Frederick Pabst (Ryan Mason) and, still among the living, Milwaukee historian John Gurda (Tylor Menz). 

The last of those subjects listed offers the possibility of something occurring that has yet to happen at a History Shmistory! date: the person given a comic alter ego showing up to see himself onstage.  

“I’d love to have the Gurda family come out and represent,” Lawrence wishes. “Maybe throw some rotten tomatoes at Tyler.” In an aside to comic who would get pelted, Lawrence defers, “Love you Tyler, but we both know that those pics of that would be incredible.”

Among the 70+ figures spoofed in HS! so far, Aaron Sawyer did a masterful job, at, perhaps, capturing the essence of what Ernest Hemmingway may have been like aßs a stand-up a few years ago, as seen below ...