“Everything I learned about intimacy I got from watching R-rated movies at sleepovers,” explains 28-year old writer/performer Jill Benjamin about her new two-person show, “Playing Dumb with Jill Benjamin.” She’s referring to movies like “Porky’s,” which have undoubtedly shaped (or warped) the romantic sensibilities of this Homewood-Flossmoor native.
Her show, which begins a summer run Friday nights at the Apollo Theatre, is a slightly altered re-mount of last year’s hit at Donny’s Skybox. Benjamin applies her healthy sense of cynism–cultivated over an ongoing, six-year boyfriend dry spell–to the wily world of dating. Her prognosis in a nutshell, “Relationships suck.”
“I take the audience on a date I go on with this guy,” says Benjamin, referring to Brian Shortall, a member of The Second City Touring Company.
She says he was initially “scared the show would be an I-hate-men kind of thing,” but, she adds, “the chemistry is there and he plays a great foil.”
So what exactly transpires over the course of this date? “We do a few `door bits,’ a series of `hellos’ at the start of the date. Then we go to a wine bar, I meet his friends (which you know can totally make or break a relationship) and then we do a few of the old `good night’ bits. You know, the awkwardness at the door, the kiss . . . It’s a whole storyline, not just a stand-up routine.”
The show, co-produced by Second City Theatricals and Rob Kolson Creative Productions, was originally conceived last summer after Benjamin’s partner, Seth Meyers, was hired as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live.” (Benjamin and Myers created and performed the improv show, “Pick-ups and Hiccups.”) With Meyers off in New York, Benjamin approached Second City Executive Producer Kelly Leonard about doing a one-woman show, which evolved into, “Playing Dumb,” under the direction of Ron West, a “Whose Line Is It Anyway” writer/performer and Second City alum.
Benjamin says her material is a response to the I’m-30-I’m-single-I’m depressed genre. “Basically it’s about how I see women act in relationships, and how I want to be and don’t want to be when I’m with a guy,” says Benjamin, “You know, those couples who fight about absolutely nothing in front of absolutely everyone?”
A blond with sunny good looks, her jokes are dirty without being offensively raunchy. Benjamin is the girl-next-door with a devious, devious mind. But her smart-girl brand of humor, a polished combination of whippet-fast commentary and self-deprecating sarcasm, may actually be scaring away potential boyfriends. At least, this was her mother’s explanation “when no one asked me to the prom.” Wait, is this true, or is Benjamin just going for a laugh?
“Oh no, I’m serious,” she confirms, “Guys tend to be intimidated by my sense of humor. We’ll joke around on dates and I’ll always take it one step further. And then they never really know what to say after that.”
This hasn’t seemed to cause many sleepless nights for Benjamin, “I’m just so [expletive] happy to be single. One-night stands are great–no breakup.” She claims the ideal pick-up line from a potential romantic interest would sound something like, “So, how do I have to [expletive] you over in order to get in your show?”
Jokes aside, Benjamin may indeed be a romantic at heart. Though a bit jaded when it comes to dating, she is not immune to the fantasy shared by many women her age, “Everyone wants the John Cusack from those 80’s movies, where he’s standing in the rain, pining for your love.”
“Playing Dumb with Jill Benjamin”
When: 10:30 p.m. Fridays through Aug. 30
Where: Apollo Theatre, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave.
Price: $15; 773-935-6100
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“Playing Dumb with Jill Benjamin” will also be performed Wednesday nights at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights beginning July 10. 847-577-2121
