Colin Quinn returns to the New York stage with his sixth one-man show, “Colin Quinn: Red State Blue State,” which opened Tuesday at Off Broadway’s Minetta Lane Theatre. Despite that title, the former Comedy Central, MTV and “SNL” star doesn’t take political sides in his gentle diatribe on what’s wrong with America. Previously, Quinn’s shows have been recorded by Netflix or HBO. Audible is on board this time with “Red State Blue State,” and the show seems designed for an audience far beyond the West Village theatergoer who usually buys a ticket to the Minetta Lane. In other words, no one could possibly be offended, upset or even mildly irritated by anything Quinn has to say in “RSBS.” And that’s a real problem.
Which is not to say that this stand-up comic is anything but consistently clever. The audience awards him with nonstop guffaws. According to Quinn, the United States of America is a concept that has “run its course…isn’t working out…didn’t really pan out…we’re running on fumes… we got greedy.”
He predicts a revolution, but what would the “Battle of Six Flags” look like, he wonders, and how about all those “fat refugees” fleeing the country to, where, Mexico?
Often, Quinn makes perfect sense. “Every 700 miles people have different personalities,” he says. After all, shouldn’t people from New Jersey and Utah be as different as people from Scotland and Yugoslavia?
Other stuff is scatterbrained but fun. He puts the “end of humanity” at the time when “robots,” i.e., cars, replaced “horses,” and no one cared. So why shouldn’t robots replace humans?
Quinn puts most of the blame on social media, a favorite punching bag that no one could argue with in 2019. People don’t meet or talk to each other anymore, meaning that the future will be nothing but “roaches, rats and Amazon delivery trucks.” More novel is his take on Tindr, and how even Caligula would be aghast enough to opine, “This is s—!”
Quinn is at his funniest when he takes on — no surprise — Donald Trump. He doesn’t resort to the beach-blond wig, the obscenely long red tie or turning his mouth into a cat’s anus. Quinn doesn’t even sound that much like the president, but he replicates his one-syllable bombast (“great”) to perfection. So how come every state in the union, even those that didn’t vote for Trump, get the same one or two-sentence take-down? (Michigan: “No one’s going back to Detroit. Drop it.”)
“Red State Blue State” is the ultimate feel-good false-equivalency show.
Bobby Moresco directs.
10 Best Theater Productions of 2018, From 'Ferryman' to 'Bernhardt/Hamlet' (Photos)
TheWrap theater critic Robert Hofler picks the best stage productions of the year.
10. "Bernhardt/Hamlet," by Theresa Rebeck (Broadway, Roundabout)
Sarah Bernhardt wants it all and gets it in Rebeck's grand comedy about the greatest feat of cross-dressing in the theater.
9. "Pass Over," by Antoinette Nwandu (Off Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater)
The inescapable prison of "Waiting for Godot" is turned into a Chicago street corner that two men can't escape except through death.
8. "The Ferryman," by Jez Butterworth (Broadway)
The author of "Jerusalem" borrows effectively from Friel, Steinbeck, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Riverdance in his look back at a Northern Ireland that even Margaret Thatcher would applaud. How this play will perform in Ireland, if it ever gets there, is anyone's guess.
7. "Downstairs," by Theresa Rebeck (Off Broadway, Primary Stages)
Demons lurk upstairs, as well as in the basement, where an emotionally unstable man has taken up unexpected residence in his sister's house. This thriller gets scary long before you even realize it's a thriller.
6. "Dance Nation," by Clare Barron (Off Broadway, Playwrights Horizons)
Young girls and one boy in a dance competition grow up but never leave their adolescence behind in this poignant comedy. There's nothing trivial about being 13 years old. In fact, there's nothing worse.
5. "Queens," by Martyna Majok (Off Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater)
Taking up temporary residence in a Queens, N.Y., basement, two generations of immigrant women learn lessons of survival and Americanization in this sweeping saga of hope and desperation.
4. "Skintight," by Joshua Harmon (Off Broadway, Roundabout Theatre Company)
Coping with rage after her husband's dumps her for a much younger woman, a middle-aged woman finds little comfort from a father who's about to marry a much, much younger man. Arguably the most underrated new play of the year.
3. "The House That Will Not Stand," by Marcus Gardley (Off Broadway, New York Theatre Workshop)
Gabriel Garcia Lorca tangles with Charles Ludlam in this brilliant retelling of "The House of Bernard Alba," set in a New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase.
2. "The Low Road," Bruce Norris (Off Broadway, Public Theater)
A foundling in the 18th century teaches us much about unbridled capitalism. This sprawling picaresque tale takes unexpected detours to a G8 summit as well as a sci-fi movie.
1. "Hangmen," by Martin McDonagh (Off Broadway, Atlantic Theatre Company)
The abolition of the death penalty in the U.K. doesn't prevent a retired executioner from taking one more life.
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TheWrap’s Best & Worst 2018: Visionary directors delivered amazing revivals of “My Fair Lady,” “Oklahoma!” and “Three Tall Women,” but great new plays dominated this year
TheWrap theater critic Robert Hofler picks the best stage productions of the year.
