This is a page for my "Standup" show "Phil the Void; Nature Abhors a Vacuum", "Phil the Void; Comedy Over Quality", and a few just in from "Phil the Void; The Great Brain Robbery". They are very good. There is some numerical/astrological validation/vindication here at Reviews! Read them, and then offer me representation.
The latest from The Grunion Gazette in Long Beach! January 2010! First review of the new year!
One of the delights of small theatre companies is to watch how they nudge us out of what we think drama can offer us and do so in interesting, clever, and unique ways. "Phil the Void; the Great Brain Robbery," written and performed by Phil Van Hest for the Garage Theatre, is one such treat.
Van Hest’s character, Phil the Void – the name says it all – is an articulate, eloquent, and literate cross between a rabbi, a corporate tax attorney, and a professor of rhetoric who dissects that he calls The Great Brain Robbery. That he does so with such insight is interesting and illuminating enough, it’s the way he does it – vigorous, humorous, and disarming – that makes the 90 minutes seem less like a lecture and more like playing quarters with your Western Civ teacher after finals.
It’s a one-man show, though an industrial bubble machine that makes you think of The Lawrence Welk Show neatly symbolizes the spume of his rapid-fire patter: ideas float with delicate precision through the air and, literally but not figuratively, over the head of the audience. He’s dressed like a disheveled undertaker – black and white, stark, significant – that gives him an air of intelligence and authority but then, drinking a not insignificant quantity of beer, showing us the beginning of his male pattern baldness (he’s thirty), belching seemingly on command, you quickly realize he’s not distancing himself from the audience, he’s making us feel right at home.
His screed he delivers with conviction. What he derides, after all – the jellification of our brains – is a serious matter. Were his persona a mindless schlep, a pop culture yahoo, you would simply write him off as a poseur who was affecting intelligence as a bombastic shtick for laughs. Instead, with staggering intelligence, he analyzes the causes and effects of the Void and his analysis, funny, guttural at times, but always to the point, is the stuff with which he fills it.
He begins with the obvious Facebook phenomena, the substitution of virtual connections with people for those of a direct manner. He skewers not just the impersonal nature of the social networking tool but its inanity as well. Another culprit, a surprising one, is the practice of journaling, the way it steals opportunities for direct communications and instead becomes the guarded sanctuary for the things you should have said to someone in the first place.
The effects? He cleverly cites results from a study from prisoners ossifying in solitary confinement, which, when you think about it, describes the state in which Facebook and journaling leaves us. The potential long-term results are bleak.
The show skirts merrily along, regaling us with long digressions that miraculously stays on point. He fills the void of audience loo trips with audience attempts to read Mexican lesbian poetry aloud without busting out into laughter. Who would have thought that so many people would get stuck on the word “crotch?” There are plenty of laughs, tons to think about, delivered in an emphatic Dennis Miller rant. He hands out a bibliography before the show which you think is a goof – Oh God, homework – but which, after you see the show, you realize has informed his monologue and which, hopefully, will inform yours, as well.
- James Scarborough
Thanks James! and now...
Behold, the Alpha & Omega of National Theatre Review Newspapers: THE INDIANA BUSINESS JOURNAL!!!
I somehow missed Phil Van Hest’s previous Indy Fringe appearances. And, judging from “Phil the Void — The Great Brain Robbery,” I’m a lesser person for it.
Van Hest’s latest show deals with our need for connectivity, a topic that leads him into the Internet, the economic collapse, belching and naked hang gliding. It’s akin to a biggie-sized “Daily Show” opening rant (without the snarkiness) tempered with Lily Tomlin’s “Search for Signs of Intelligent Life” sense of awe, cut with David Cross hipness, kneaded with Mort Sahl’s brains, and tempered with Lenny Bruce’s outrage.
That being said, Van Hest is an original. In a fair and reasonable world, he’d be playing the Murat. Highly recommended. (This is Phil. "The Murat" is a large theatre nearby.)
-Lou Harry, Indiana Business Journal 2009
- This one’s from NUVO 2009, Indianapolis’ weekly paper. 5 Stars!!
If my editors would let me, I would write “Go See This Show!” over and over again until I hit my 150 word limit, but I think they would see that as a cop-out. But, in fact, it is not, because that’s what I’ve been telling everyone I’ve talked Fringe with in the past few days. Phil (real name Phil Van Hest) spends his stage time musing about the absurdity of our modern age. He touches on the topics one would expect — health care, the economy, technology — but he goes deeper than that. He digs into the ideas of social networking, gambling with our future and an idea he calls “conscience feedback.” If I stopped now I could fit “Go See This Show!” in about five more times, but again that wouldn’t fly. But seriously, go see this show! —Brooks Frederickson
This one is from WIBC 93.1 by Julie Ihlenfeldt, who, incidentally, is now on our Holiday Card mailing list I’ve noticed.
Phil Van Hest does not need me to review his show. To the best of my knowledge, Van Hest has sold out or nearly sold out every show he has had thus far in this year’s IndyFringe. Seeing Phil the Void is more an exploration into, “What is all the hype about?” more than anything else. Van Hest is one of two acts that have been involved in all 5 years of IndyFringe; the other being Andrea Merlyn. Oddly enough, these shows could not be more different. The Great Brain Robbery is the only show that I know of that comes complete with a bibliography. Van Hest is intelligent and he fills his hour extrapolating on humanity. He comments on the virtual generation and the state of the economy.
In the program, Van Hest notes, “your experience of this year’s show may inform the process by which you enjoy it.” This is the type of circular logic that fills Van Hest’s show. I saw Van Hest’s show two years ago and I adored it. Seeing Van Hest again only made me realize how much I have changed since two IndyFringes ago.
This is the only show in the Fringe that had me ranting the entire car ride home. I found something intrinsically frustrating about the fact that Van Hest was quick to point out how no one thinks anymore and self-actualization is nearly inexistent in modern society. As an audience member, I’m not sure if you are suppose to feel like part of his club of the few thinkers in a hopeless society or feel like he is talking down to you for the length of the show. There are a few tired arguments within the show, including how the American education system neglects to emotionally grow it’s students and teach them how to cope with reality. It seems to me that Van Hest forgets that there are limits to education and the structure of education does not hand you knowledge, instead providing you the tools to figure it out for yourself. Van Hest seems to have taken those extra steps and the assumption that the majority of society is disinterested in this seems a bit short sided.
Phil the Void gives the mind plenty of fuel and concepts to chew over. The irony of an intelligent show like this is that if you agree or disagree with Van Hest, his goal has been reached. He has a way of connecting to the core of people and really making them think. Sure, I was ranting the whole way home, but that only meant that Van Hest’s words had reached me. Phil the Void – The Great Brain Robbery is a truly unique Fringe experience. If the show sounds interesting, I highly suggest you see it for yourself and figure out your own opinions. My only warning is, arrive early. We were at the show prior to Van Hest’s in Comedy Sportz and by the time we got outside, there was already a long line forming for Phil the Void. This show does include foul language and drug references.
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This guy is from the Winnipeg Sun, 2008 Four 1/2 Stars
If Phil van Hest were to start a religion, I'd be the first in line for baptism. He speaks the truth about how intelligence is soon to be a thing of the past and how common sense will follow behind — having also been absorbed by complete ignorance. The world is getting dumber at an alarming rate and van Hest poignantly describes how this is happening while we aren't even aware of it. He accurately describes his play as being designed "to entertain the enlightened and enrage the ignorant" — which isn't to say it is a highbrow comedy. He hysterically points out the ignorance of the world, and by the end, you will have decided whether you are one of the enlightened or helping to cause the downfall of society.
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UMFM, Winnipeg 2008
Phil the Void is the second instalment of Sound and Fury alumni Phil van Hest's stand up comedy routine. The comedic style is, dare I say it, more intellectual than that of Sound and Fury. Dressed in ragged jeans and a full beard with a twinkle in his eye, van Hest looks like some counter culture guru or mad scientist. Van Hest hits all his targets, among them politics, religion, Internet pornography and the dumbing down of America, with an keen observational eye and imaginative wit. The result is a very funny, often hilarious hour of comedy. Uniquely, van Hest also provides a couple of what he calls downers- observations that make you wince and paradoxically add to the comedy. I'm not usually a fan of stand-up comedy, but this show is certainly an exception which I heartily recommend that you see.
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What tour is complete without the CBC? Four Spades!
That makes four spades, four flowers and a Roger Moore. 2008Now if Phil Van Hest would only audition for Last Comic Standing, network comedy television would suddenly get a lot more interesting. Looking part mad scientist and part bushy-bearded indie rocker, with a little evangelist thrown in for balance, Van Hest's hour-long, one-man show riffs on everything from our inability to communicate, to the dying art of critical thinking, porn, religion and, of course, gnomes. His musings left the audience laughing out loud. The only downside: because the show feels partly prepared and partly off the cuff, some transitions are a little rough. Phil the Void: Comedy Over Quality is like dropping in on a house party where Van Hest is holding court in the kitchen, sucking in partygoers with his lively, intense storytelling. At one point he says his mission is to, "entertain the enlightened and enrage the ignorant." But at Friday's packed show, he was definitely preaching to the converted. And looking around at an audience full of other Fringe performers, you can't get a better recommendation than that.
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The only Five Star show in Indianapolis this year was.... me!
NUVO 2007"Stand-up at its inspired best, comedy that refuses to give in to the twisted times we live in. At last, a comedian who actually assumes the audience is intelligent enough to get that God is a sense of humor. Makes you feel a little less lonely as you laugh yourself off your seat. VanHest, who was formerly one-third of the sketch team Sound & Fury, has returned to the Fringe in a new incarnation that's hilarious, subversive and very, very smart. In other words, he hits it out of the park. If you've begun to fear most stand-up seems like it's been punched out of some permanently post-adolescent purgatory, this is the show you've been needing. Don't miss it. "
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Four Stars from the Edmonton Journal
This one-man show is too smart and uses too many four-syllable words. I'm kidding, of course. Those "criticisms" are part of Phil van Hest's standup routine -- so you'll have to go to one of his three remaining Fringe shows to hear the punchline. Unless he ends up dropping the joke from his one-hour set -- and I wouldn't put it past the Los Angeles comedian. He's a bit of a meanie, making fun of gnomes, and drinking beer after beer onstage while his audience is forced to make do with their lukewarm bottles of water. You'll need to stock up on liquids -- your throat will be dry from chuckling so much. (Though I'm not sure you're actually allowed to bring any beverages into the Yardbird Suite.) Van Hest skewers the usual subjects -- traffic, pornography, racial differences, religious bumper stickers, lesbian poetry, Jesus camps -- but he approaches them with fresh eyes and a serrated tongue. Oh, and a few four-syllable words.
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I Hit "Top Pick" fro the Edmonton Sun again, kids.
Two years running. Hot. Shit. Four Stars. 2007"You may remember Phil van Hest from last year's Fringe. His newest "Phil the Void" act is a sequel to last year's, if you can make a real sequel to a stand-up comedy act. But just as you can expect an endless number of one-man shows to centre around the "coming out of the closet plot line", Fringe audiences are realizing "Phil the Void" is becoming one of the most reliable attractions at the festival. What sets van Hest apart from his comic brethren is, he presents his act with such an easy-going rapport, it feels like you're sitting across from him at a beer-stained pub table. Drawing equally from a well of pent-up anger and a six pack of beer, van Hest lets loose his torrent of well-articulated observations, ranging from the always crowd pleasing subjects of Internet porn and the religious Rapture. A worthy contender for the crown of "most pissed off, yet hilarious comic", previously worn by the likes of Bill Hicks and David Cross, van Hest is probably one of the sharpest acts at the Fringe. As he draws blood, you'll laugh and grimace and ask for more. His act centres around the "ignorance is bliss" theme bogging down North America in a sea of stupidity and idiotic signs, such as "slippery when wet." As pissed as he gets (upset and a bit tipsy) on stage, van Hest doesn't make you think he's the type who goes home late at night and harbours death wish grudges. No, chances are he writes them down after being inspired by late-night Denny's diners and works his rants into bits that delight the audience and vent his rage. Homosexual Jesus bumper stickers, the art of talking like a moron (thanks Laguna Beach!) and driving in his native Los Angeles all make it into his "Phil the Void" act. Van Hest pulls no punches, but you'll leave aching with laughter and your eyes will be a bit more open to all the moronic tendencies prevalent in society today. If you're lucky, you'll also be witness to his Straight Faced Lesbian Poetry reading contest - so genius it could be its own act"
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I received the "Top Pick" of the fringe from the Edmonton Sun:
"Lurking beneath one of the sharpest standup acts I've ever seen is a bracing commentary rich in politics, science and philosophy. San Francisco's Phil van Hest [obviously I couldn't really be from LA with this material] mixes political correctness with the poli tically correct [?] and amazingly never destroys the universe. Neat Trick"
Five Stars. -
Above is my first five star review. Below is my first Four Star review from the Vue Weekly. Interestingly enough, the guy who wrote this liked it/me so much he gave me a place to stay. (Hi Scott!)
"I have no clue how to accurately describe this show - but I laughed my ass off and learned about quantum physics. A mix of a Vegas stand-up comedian, gender studies major, Chomsky scholar and string theorist on acid, Phil van Hest lectures on the importance of vibrations to water (and us), expounds on theories of time's subjective nature as a means to bridge the pain/humour divide, delves into religion and politics, and discovers simple truths climbing in Yosemite National Park with a man named Florida, all in sometimes-dead-pan-sometimes-rapid-fire delivery that will make your sides ache. Trust me."
Four Stars. -
This one earned me an "A" from Uptown Magazine in Winnipeg. Whatever the fuck that is. Let's call it FIVE STARS!
"Bill Hicks lives! Hes just living in the body of L.A. comedian Phil van Hest. Delivering the same make-you-think counterculture comedy that Hicks was so good at, van Hest produces big laughs and mind-blowing thoughts. Does he rip off the late comic legend? Hell no! While van Hest does rip on religion and speaks of positive energy, just as Hicks did, van Hest delivers with a less angry approach that's equally funny. Describing the pointlessness of marriage, how your brain is out to get you, and how Dick Cheney is a cyborg, van Hest's material ranks as some of the most original and funny standup out there. He did, however, almost lose the audience late in the show when he called 9/11 our generations JFK scandal. That was maybe a little too out there for this crowd."
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Moving on, to the CBC review. 2006
"Any performer who refers to a vacuum in their title -- daring critics to exclaim "it sucks!" -- deserves props for bravery. Or maybe not, since L.A. comic Phil van Hest knows he's preaching to the choir when he brings his Bush-bashing monologue before a Canadian audience. It doesn't matter though, because the show definitely does not "suck". It's little more than stand-up, but it's stand-up for smart people, and it's funny. Fringe-goers seeking such bells and whistles as sets, characters and a story will be disappointed. Everyone else will marvel at how van Hest's wit snakes through topics as small as Trojan condoms and as weighty as black holes. If Seinfeld was about nothing, then Phil is the anti-Jerry: his show is about everything. This is the best kind of observational humour; it skips jokes about airline food and zeroes in on the absurdity, hypocracy and lies that surround us. And despite the cynicism and occasional vitriol, van Hest is too likable to come off as a crank. He's more like an impish cross between Bill Hicks and David Cross. He'll make you laugh at the evolutionary hole we're digging, and prompt such whispers as the one I heard from the woman behind me: 'It's so true!'."