Virgin Sacrifice. The title certainly grabs your attention. Is this some sort of cult performance? Just another weird New York-y thing? Well, think again. It's a comedy show that was brought to New York by Los Angeles comedienne Nicole Blaine and director Mickey Blaine specifically for the New York International Fringe Festival. The show is your typical stand-up showcase of local successful professional comedians with one very innocent, very nervous exception: The last comedian of the night is a stand-up virgin. Blaine takes an average person with a standard day job and no performing experience and prepares him or her for their ever first stand-up performance. Every show is unique in that it features different comedians and virgins each time.
The final performance of Virgin Sacrifice at FringeNYC featured comedians DC Benny, Myq Kaplan, Carmen Lynch, Hadiyah Robinson, and Kara Klenk, with a virgin performance from Columbia researcher Andrea Nye. The running joke of the night was everyone's inability to explain what Andrea's job actually entails, including Andrea herself. Blaine hosted, keeping the show running smoothly with transitions between comedians and some crowd interaction. The genius of the show comes not only from the comedy itself but from the crafty marketing opportunity that comes along with the virgin. Each virgin is obviously going to invite friends, family, coworkers, etc. for moral support, while each friend, family member, coworker, etc. will obviously come to watch their loved one embarrass him/herself. However, as a spectator with no relation to the virgin, the vibe in the room is a strange one. It almost becomes a way to draw in a very specific and exclusive crowd, leaving behind actual stand-up comedy enthusiasts who just wanted to see a good show. It's like your friend Brian's brother's girlfriend's birthday party, where the only person you know is the person you came with, while everyone else has known each other for years.
Nevertheless, all of the comics were fantastic and a great blend of the New York stand-up scene. Comedy Central's DC Benny talked about living in Brooklyn and dealing with all of the characters he meets there, while America's Got Talent contestant Myq Kaplan threw out his sharp wit and wordplay at the audience. Hadiyah Robinson brought a silly, festive energy to the stage, whereas Carmen Lynch let the humor veer in a darker direction. Kara Klenk packed a punch, involving the audience in many of her bits about newly married life and her ability to make excuses. Nicole Blaine performed engaging crowd work in her opening set with plenty of talk about sex and birth - the juxtaposition of her set with the title of the show makes for great irony. As one of the only stand-up comedy shows in FringeNYC, Virgin Sacrifice certainly brings a unique and hilarious concept to New York comedy.
