Every Story Ever Told

Gladstone is a great, clever, and funny writer (his brilliantly funny HOUDINI’S LAST ESCAPE is playing at the Waterfront Theatre), and a charming performer.

The first half of this evening ticks along at a great clip, loaded with literary trivia tidbits and a gleeful abandon - War and Peace has never been funnier and he pronounces all the names without a slip (you try it.) It’s fun watching him trying to find a way to distill every story ever told.

Then part two begins, and Gladstone enlists the audience to help tell the “ultimate” story and things fall apart somewhat.

Gladstone is still funny, and his synopses of Rocky 1-6 and City Lights do much to help enliven this section, but ultimately it’s just not as funny as Gladstone’s glib retellings of great stories, and holds none of the urgency he created in part one.

The general rule in storytelling is forgotten here - the higher the stakes, the greater the interest.
Still highly enjoyable, but in a small hot room it began to feel a bit long.