Geeking Out: "Mortified" Hits San Francisco

Geeking Out
by Mieke Eerkens

It is every teen’s nightmare to be made a spectacle of, to be different, and worst of all, to be laughed at. But if you’re David Nadelberg, mastermind of “Mortified”, the comedy sensation coming to San Francisco December 3rd in which adults read their cringe-worthy teenaged diary entries to a crowded room, that’s the whole objective.

“Mortified” was born three years ago in Los Angeles, when Nadelberg, an L.A.-based writer for television, “found a love letter to a girl I stalked. And I knew I wanted to read it on stage.” The idea grew to encompass a melange of authentic letters, notes, diary entries, and songs read aloud by a cast composed of people from all walks of life willing to share their most embarrassing and impassioned teen geekiness with an audience. The show now appears monthly in New York and Los Angeles, and its sweeping success has prompted an expansion to Boston and San Francisco, with Nadelberg’s ultimate goal being to have four or five permanent shows as well as a touring company for smaller markets.

With multiple shows and a constantly changing cast, the show pulls its performers from a broad pool of talent. At their latest casting call, real-life diaries fished out of attics and basements across the country by hopeful auditionees cover topics like rural 4H club pig-judging, Appalachian teenaged sex and drugs, lamentations over chest size, and morose poetry. A young career-woman reads, “It feels weird turning thirteen...I guess I just assumed that all thirteen year olds went out on dates and kissed in public...” She looks up self-consciously, then continues, “I guess all that happens when you’re fourteen.” Laughter erupts, and Nadelberg praises the applicant’s teenaged naivity and sense of urgency. She visibly brightens at the warm reception. Says Nadelberg, “Even our casting sessions are supportive and nurturing... I can relate to all of them.”

While all who audition are warmly supported, only those with original material that has the right mix of humor and pathos, delivered with the appropriate teenaged earnestness, will make the final cut to become part of Mortified. They will join the ranks of performers like Will Nolan, who reads his angry diary responses to a bully, or Kaleigh and Krista Lanphear, whose earnest performance of the melodramatic song they wrote after the Challenger disaster is only further underscored by their choreography of hand-gestures. Sascha Rothchild’s piece featuring teenaged experimentation with sex and drugs was featured on NPR’s “This American Life”, which resulted in her signing on with a literary agency and garnering interest from publishers to her diary rights.

Diverse, yet universally recognizable themes like these have caused the show’s popularity to spread like wildfire, with a flood of media interest and celebrities like Elijah Wood and Rachael Harris appearing in the audience of late, and major film/music/television execs sending gushing letters of support. The show’s Website, http://www.getmortified.com, now sees a great deal of traffic, with fans invited to post their own photos and journal entries on the “Woe and Tell” board. If its sold-out shows in Los Angeles and New York are any indication, Mortified promises to follow in the footsteps of audience favorites like The Vagina Monologues, Def Poetry Jam, or Puppetry of the Penis. “If you look at the hits in theater, the things that people talk about are fringe theater like “Late Night Catechism”, cult theater that rose to the Broadway ranks,” explains Nadelberg. “That’s what I’d like this to do.”

Nadelberg may not have to wait very long to achieve his goal. Like the aforementioned Vagina Monologues, bona fide “name actors” are increasingly looking to get in on the action. Mad T.V.’s Mo Collins and Rosanne/ER’s Sarah Gilbert (in a cameo appearance) have moved from audience to stage in Mortified. Collins, who read a mixture of poems and journal entries about her first boyfriend, says she had to resist the urge to justify her “sad combo of self-loathing and sappy love” by shouting to the audience “I've changed!!! I swear!!! I like myself now!"

Not to worry, Mo, we can relate. That very internal conflict between embracing and casting off one’s awkward teenaged persona is the commonality that keeps audiences riveted, according to Nadelberg. Neil Katcher, Nadelberg’s co-producer, concurs. “When people read their work from an adult perspective, really own it and bring the vulnerability that that kid had, then people fall in love with him or her, because they’re real.” Nadelberg nods in agreement. “People look at it as cathartic. You’re letting that person go,” he adds. “But at the same time, you will always be that person.” He sits back and smiles. “It’s fifteen-minute therapy. This is the real-world version of the Charlie Brown 5 cent therapy stand.”

“Mortified” appears in San Francisco at 8:00 P.M., Saturday, December 3rd and Monday, December 5th at the Makeout Room, 3225 22nd St. More info available at http://www.getmortified.com.