“A Sucker Emcee” is the best, and only, “one man shows” that I’ve ever seen. The story was based on the life of muMs, how he grew up in the Bronx, his first flirtation with hip hop, and then his life from thereon: college, dropping out, loss, failure, success, more failure, more success. Suffice it to say, through rap and slam poetry, muMs led the audience though laughs and tears about the ups and downs of his life. There were two main parts about this performance that really stood out to me which made it unique and special: its simplicity and its personality.
Simplicity: in today’s media, everything is so grand and outrageously busy. That story isn’t true for “A Sucker Emcee,” where it took no more than a man, a musician, and a microphone to move an audience. Craig “muMs” Grant supplied the story while Richard Medina added the seamless music. The music was perfect, the sound effects that Richard added were perfect, and the 70-minute rap-poem was perfect. Other than the auditory perfection, the visuals were absolutely stunning. After seeing this, one might question “What visuals?” and that’s the point! Simplicity: all it too was muMs’ dancing, Richard’s comical acting, and the lighting. The lights really added to the mood of the performance without being overwhelming: when muMs was being extremely serious, there was a singular light on him; when muMs was sad, blues were used in the background: when angry, reds were used. Although many people probably didn’t realize it, the lights truly added to the experience that was “A Sucker Emcee.”
Personality: quality actors and actresses can we switched and swapped endlessly in most works of art, but not “A Sucker Emcee.” In this personal performance, only one man can perform without having to act or fake it: the story was muMs’ life. Everything he said was true to his life, and therefore every feeling he emoted as genuine and of great mass. Although another actor could memorize the rap-poem and perform it, it wouldn’t have the right effect on the audience because it’s not real. For example, when muMs spoke about his mother having Alzheimer’s disease, he stumbled and got teary-eyed. It would be fake and meaningless if anyone else used his story. MuM’s is an individual with an individual story: without him, there can be no story.
Unfortunately, this is the part of the review that no one likes, especially not the writer if they loved the performance: the flaws. Sadly, some of the audience, myself included, could not get the full effect of the performance: some of the jokes and allusions went right over some of the heads of the viewers. There was many references to old songs and artists that I simply did not get because I did not grow up in his era, nor do I know enough about the past artists to understand the jokes. Although these references would make the experience just that better for people who do understand them, they also make people who don’t understand them feel ostracized.
Simply stated, the pros overweight the cons tremendously, and therefore, I would suggest this performance to anyone of today’s era because much of his story is universal enough for people to empathize with. It was a fun performance that made you appreciate the skills of muMs and the point he got across to the audience: fear is a warning, and we’re all scared.
