A Sucker Emcee was the first performance that i have seen in this style; I am glad to say it was a delight. I entered curiously and came out fascinated.It started off with 3o minutes of hip hop music, some of which i recognized others that i did not. The stage looked like something you would see at a stand up comedy act. The wall behind the stage was a brick wall decorated with a lot of fancy lighting equipment. The program interestingly said it was a one man show that included a Dj. I didn’t know what to expect and quiet frankly i sat down with a negative attitude due to the hour, however a couple of minutes into the show, it went away.
The show started out with a casually dressed Craig, a.k.a. muMs, an actor and playwright. There were no props and no changes of scenery; all that decorated the stage was the changing of lights, Dj Rich Medina and the actor. He began his performance rather quickly and his prologue, his poem about fear, was a little difficult to understand at first. I hadn’t realized that the idea of fear was supposed to be the prologue until after the show. However it smoothly led way into his narrative. MuMs told the story of his life but his acting and emotional detachment from the script made it seem otherwise. And that was the beauty of it. He told us how he was introduced to rap and hip hop, his childhood, college life and his present. He told his narrative through first and 3rd perspective, almost as if he was telling us about someone else’s life. After the show as muMs was describing his process and thought process it was interesting to see that he seemed like an entirely different person than his actor self. While he was performing, he was powerful and wholeheartedly explained every detail, as opposed to his “blandness” after words.
My favorite performer was actually Rich Medina. He and muMs had such great connection, but i was actually enamored with Rich’s facial expressions. His love for his work was definitely seen through his music and liveliness. I enjoyed the fact that Rich laughed, participated agreed and enjoyed the performance as if it was his first time watching. I’m sure that muMs would have been powerful without rich but the Dj added something special to the performance. what i enjoyed was that it was not your modern day music (thank goodness), some pieces were classics and others weren’t even hip hop. Everyone was tapping or nodding along.
Every community could have appealed to this performance. Even if hip hop isn’t the normal for each individual. The principle of overcoming fear and having the courage to follow your life and dream applies to all. It doesn’t mater where you come from, life exists when people choose to follow passion.
