Savannah Bearden is perplexed.
“Why have we never thought to do the ‘Break-Up Show’ on Valentine’s Day before?” she asks. It’s a good question. The “Break-Up Show” is an annual comedy showcase dedicated to everything awful about dating and entanglement. What are the lovelorn to do while all their coupled-up friends are out enjoying candle-lit meals and being mushy?
Unlike most comedy shows, the “Break-Up Show’s” material is all built exclusively around true stories of love gone bad and really embarrassing found text. Audiences get especially upset if a show doesn’t include at least a few dramatic readings of high school break-up texts.
Funny Valentine
“This is going to be a greatest hits show,” says Bearden, who promises that high school break-up text messages will be on the menu and appropriately dramatic. “We’ll also have a couple of very special, very horrible Valentine’s Day date reenactments and tons of the creepiest OKCupid submissions you’ve ever seen.”
The “Break-Up Show” has evolved into a multi-media event in the spirit of classic Saturday Night Live. Interspersed between all the sketches and comic bits, there are also short films and live musical performances. The house band is called the Glitches and brings together a tight cadre of Midtown musicians assembled for one reason only: Yacht Rock. That’s right, fans of musical smoothness, unless Rupert Holmes comes to town, the “Break-Up Show” may be your only opportunity to ever hear a live, non-karaoke version of “Escape” (aka the piña colada song).
“If you like Valentine’s Day, this isn’t a show for you,” Bearden says. “This is for all the people who dread this weekend.”