I first met Jason Kravits at a party. Well, not exactly… Wait. Let’s back up.

I often play catchup on TV programs and movies, sometimes coming to them years after the fanfare has died. For example, the TV show “The Practice” was pretty big in the late 90’s to mid 2000’s - not for me. I came to it years later at a time when I was doing a lot of running around. It became my show to watch on cell phone in-between other life tasks.

One of the characters on this series was an annoying district attorney ((Richard Bay) who always commanded the screen. He was such a strong ‘character’ that I really noticed him and looked forward to his storyline.

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Completely disconnected: New York’s a cool town. We have amazing celebrities that you can find walking on stage at silly little variety shows on small stages. For example, one night I saw, rather randomly, EGOT winner Robert Lopez on stage with Tony winner Michael Cerveris and a bunch of other kooky celebs and unknowns jamming it up in Bleeker streets “(le) poisson rouge” basement.

At this show, there was one guy there that really stood out. Hysterically quick and funny.

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One year later. I’m walking into a party (remember how this article started? yeah… the party.) putting my phone away from watching another “Practice” episode. I’m introduced to Jason Kravits as “That Guy” who was so funny at last years show… and Oh (I think you know what’s coming), he’s on my freaking phone right now as a very serious actor in a major TV series. The two personas seemed so disconnected that I had trouble believing it was the same guy.

SCREAMING FAST FORWARD TO:

So a little while back I was invited to see Jason’s one-man show at 54 Below. Without much knowledge of what to expect, I had no hesitation going. I already know that this guy can pretty much kill at anything he touches (that’s the good kill, not the bad one - let’s keep our slang in check).

Last week, he did the show again, so take this as a review of both shows.

Simply put, this guy is brilliant. The audience is asked to write random keywords and sentences on scraps of paper before the show. Then as the show progresses, he keeps pulling them out of the bowl, weaving stories and songs on-the-spot, along with his wonderful musicians who follow along.

Lets get this straight. I’ve seen many people get up on stages and perform musical improv. Heck, there was a major Off-Broadway show this winter based on doing just that. But Mr. Kravits simply takes it to a new level. His lyrics are so clever, and so complex (not just simple rhymes) that you find yourself forgetting that it’s being made up in the moment. These are songs that someone else might have spent many laborious months crafting. Plus, he does this all while simultaneously concocting melodies and keeping tempo. Plus, he’s a Broadway veteran (“The Drowsy Chaperone” and more), with a voice that's really top-notch.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
If you ever get the chance to see Jason Kravits perform. Grab it. He’s a fantastic dramatic actor (his IMDB lists over 70 productions) but seeing him perform comedy is just magic. And if you’re the musical-theater type, he’s got that too.

I hear he even dances, you really got to hate people like that.