Like A Virgin — All shiny and new

Jimmy Hogg is a 33-year-old independent theatre artist who does one-man shows. That means he talks a lot.

Thank God for that. I just had my first theatre guffaw this year, and I love to guffaw. Like, y’know in that episode of Seinfeld where…well, not really. I found out Hogg hates it when you say that and I say it a lot.

Too bad Jimmy! I listened to you for an hour. Now it’s my turn.

I’m a huge fan of story-telling stand up comedy. I’ve seen Kathy Griffin, Don Rickles, Craig Ferguson and loved them. I’m adding Jimmy Hogg to that list.

Like A Virgin is Hogg’s hilarious tale of growing up as a UK virgin. While I’m sure he’s made up for lost time, Hogg had us in stitches describing how he waded through the wilderness of his youth. I whispered to my companion, “I wish my friends ______, ______ and _________ were here. They sooo could relate!”

You might think of Madonna’s song when you hear the title of this show; the Moulin Rouge movie version is much more appropriate — not that I’m accusing Hogg of being Australian (another thing he doesn’t like) but his accent and his glorious over-the-top performance did take me down under.

Hogg deserves a sold out show on Sunday. How he responded to individual audience members was like watching a master bow instead of pluck the strings of his violin. He told us this was the first performance of his new show. Imagine, yet again, I’m touched for the very first time. I confess, I really did feel good inside.

Like A Virgin was a wonderful kick off to The Big Comedy Go-To this week! I made up my mind to go one half hour before show time. Go Sunday. You too won’t regret it.