Published on New York Cool
My Pony's in the Garage
By Eileen Kelly and presented at the New York International Fringe Festival
Reviewed by Christina M. Hinke
New York Cool
August 2005
Jesus Mary and Joseph! How many times did you hear that from your mom when you were growing up? Probably hundreds of times if you grew up in an Irish Catholic household full of “running-amuck” brothers and sisters. In My Pony’s in the Garage, Eileen Kelly, a blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty (a slim Drew Barrymore look-alike), tells us all about her quirky childhood and the adventures she had while growing up in New Jersey.
The humor of this one-woman show reminded me of a middle-class version of the film The Royal Tenenbaums or the television show Arrested Development. It was witty, sarcastic and honest. Eileen made the audience laugh at stories about her childhood such as the one where she overdosed on St. Joseph’s Aspirin because it just tasted so darn good and the one about the time she electrocuted herself when she tried to pry a cord off the exposed outlet with a penny. And about how she always ended up listening to her chain-smoking mom commenting on her “incidents” with a “well - that was dumb.”
My Pony’s in the Garage is a well packaged one-hour show, filled with “chapters” with weird titles like “Strangers with Kittens,” “The Darker Side of Chocolate,” and “Bubble Boy.” Eileen tells her stories while standing in front of a screen which displayed photos of Eileen and her family as music from Jersey songsters like Sinatra and Springsteen played in the background. Eileen Kelly’s comedy persuaded me to laugh and also to reflect on my own strange stories of youth.
My Pony’s in the Garage was directed and developed by Kimmy Gatewood.
Tickets $15. Available at www.fringenyc.org
COLLECTIVE: UNCONSCIOUS| 279 Church Street
(Between White & Franklin Sts.)
Copyright 2005 Christina M. Hinke. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
