Hollywood Fringe Festival Review: Oh, But Wait ... There's More!

“Crazy Kim Coles” was an overachiever with a weight problem throughout her childhood, and she learned to use her comedic personality to convince her peers to laugh with her, rather than at her. Standing on top of a wooden box, with her wild hair, flowing dark pants, and sequined black blouse with sheer sleeves (care of costume designer Ceci), she delivers snippets of her comprehensive one-person rendition of 1970s miniseries Roots. Coles (over 60,000 Facebook fans) takes the audience on a tour through her life in Oh, But Wait ... There’s More!, a routine supplemented by family photos, as well as moments in her career, complete with running commentary. Raised in Brooklyn, pointing out her merit badges and school outfits, “there’s nothing gangsta’ about me.” Her effervescent personality bubbles throughout the show, especially when she has a dance break and gets her groove on. She points out her time as a plus-size model (“Look at me, I’m smizing … I’m giving you Phyllis Hyman here”), beauty pageant contestant (her talent becomes important later on in the show), comic, actress, and media personality. She touches on her Star Search days (she lost her second stint by “a quarter star”), Live at the Apollo, and opening for such legends as Sinbad, Luther Vandross, and The Temptations.

She recalls a moment as a warm-up host on the set of The Cosby Show, where Bill Cosby pulls her aside to give her advice.  She was so star struck, she couldn’t hear anything he was saying, only to have him wait for her phone-call years later where the consummate professional was able to recall every detail of her act that day on set, including what she was wearing.  “What was the dress you had on?  Take it out and burn it.”  During the conversation, she hilariously recounts having to use the restroom facilities while on the phone with the famous actor.  Her impression of Cosby is light and effortless and she does Earth Kitt as well, after describing one of the most famous Catwomen as wearing “two sets of eyelashes.”  Meeting Oprah—her current employer—she references how an unmanned spotlight seems to follow her everywhere.

She contrasts her unfortunate one season on In Living Color with her five-season career crown jewels as Living Single's Synclaire James, where she worked with both Queen Latifah and Kim Fields. She shares her highs (which includes her incredible parents and the familial working environment of Single) and lows (shopping addiction, dodging bill collectors, and a security guard with “no teeth in his head” and a lisp razzing her for being in a professional funk). Her delivery is just too rich. Her Puerto Rican Girl Scout Master while growing up gave her this advice: “kissing leads to fucking like farting leads to shitting.” On a fortuitous trip to England, “They got henges like we have hydrants.” While Coles comes across as happy-go-lucky, it’s not for lack of work or making mistakes. She’s human like everyone else and is just as susceptible to darker emotions. She just simply chooses her failings to empower rather than impede her present and future. Her account of making a Walmart trip with mother is both side-splittingly funny and tear-jerking. The one-woman show reaches surprising inspirational moments that would leave most motivational speakers creaming in their pants. Whether or not she cares to, she schools their ass. It seems pretty clear that Coles has led a full life and has plenty of other material to share. She effectively streamlines this particular show and concludes, like its title, with an exclamation point by ripping through a gigantic image of a present while twirling a baton (one of her many talents) to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and, dressed in a leopard print dress, employing a dance number worthy of Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine. Oh, yeah, she went there. You knew it was coming, you couldn’t wait, and she sold it … and left you wanting more. To anyone who still says women can't be funny: can we please put that archaic belief to bed?

Kim Coles (on right) backstage with someone famous whose
name unfortunately escapes me ... help!

Coles closed her run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival tonight on the Renberg stage at The Village of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center. The last show I saw there was Standing on Ceremony. The house for Oh But Wait was half-full, despite the tickets being less than reasonably priced. At well over an hour, this funny and inspirational girl needs to find a good promoter and take this shit out on the road. You can find out how to contact her and let her know how much you want to see her show here.