by **1/2 (out of 5)
In Hollywood, sometimes a TV show or movie doesn’t become a hit not because the show or movie itself is bad, but because it’s marketed poorly or the timing is off. This late-night show from Angela Beevers, a Hollywood assistant who while working for Mike Judge has received associate producer credits on Silicon Valley and the Beavis and Butt-Head revival, suffers from some of these issues. It’s an intriguing hour describing how Beevers processed the passing of her mother (a Tarot card reader, belly dancer, and Renaissance faire worker) and her struggles as a young woman in 2014 to come up with a eulogy in the overnight hours before her mother’s funeral service. While she does show us what she finds when she Googles eulogy tips, Beevers never quite fulfills the promise of her show’s title. And though she does attempt to fill her mother’s wigs and costumes at various points, and acts out the caricature of the Fresno Catholics who arrive at her mother’s deathbed, it’s not exactly a comedy show, either. The venue, despite being named Snug, never feels quite snug, either.
Beevers mentions how she was included in a 2016 feature in The Hollywood Reporter on Hollywood assistants. Her quote in that feature answered the prompt: Biggest lesson I’ve learned. “There’s always a solution to your problem. You just have to stay calm, open-minded and creative.” Some seven years later, here’s hoping she remembers that lesson as she evolves this production.
How to Write a Eulogy That Kills runs through Aug. 27 at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Snug
