13th – 31st May 2024
Stop Trying To Look At…, directed by Noel Wallace and starring Jacob Grunberger, premiered at the Golden Goose Theatre Camberwell and sold out earlier this year.
We are introduced to Grunberger, son of a Jewish father, with an ode to a very personal part of him being played over the speakers. “There’s a piece of me that you don’t see.” Comedic lyrics and a witty script take us on a journey for 50 minutes of Grunnbeger laying himself bare. Not completely though, as he makes very clear.
The Canal Cafe Theatre provides cabaret-style seating. This intimate and relaxed atmosphere is perfect to listen to what is, essentially, the first part of Grunberger’s autobiography.
“Alongside the very moving moments he creates, Grunberger has a natural talent for comedy.”
The show comprises a series of anecdotes broken up with movement and music, a slideshow of his family and upbringing (he gets his “f*****g handsome” genes from his father – in case you were wondering) and a self-penned rap. At one point, Grunberger talks over a garage track, reminiscent of Mike Skinner (A.K.A. The Streets). Younger readers: Google him.
Stop Trying to Look at… explores Grunberger’s childhood, right through to the present day. We are given an insight into the highs and lows that form the man we see in front of us on stage; the tragedy of losing his father at a young age, being brought up in a single-parent household, and the constant house moving from the outskirts of Glasgow, to Edinburgh, then finally on to Essex.
We are taken to his state boarding school where “Not all the teachers were paedophiles and racists”, with tales of digestive biscuits (or not), rugby and breaking into parties. Then finally onto university at Bristol where habitual drug taking and unprotected sex played a pivotal part in his education.
Grunberger has great comic timing, with an obvious stage presence. He is confident to the point of self-aware arrogance (“You’re fit but, my gosh, don’t you know it” – Mike Skinner, The Streets, 2004, springs to mind) but behind the mask there is deep pain and grief, mental health struggles and anger-inducing experiences revolving around his identity. “You ask me how I cope – I don’t.” He describes Stop Trying to Look at… as an outlet for the shadows in his life.
Alongside the very moving moments he creates, Grunberger has a natural talent for comedy which is an attribute that he could take much further. Every single member of the audience was laughing at various points in the show, and he was met with a standing ovation at the end.
This is a great start for Grunberger, and I have no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him.
Rhea Shepherd
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