art & design
5 Questions for Monologuist James Braly

December 8, 2010

The one-man show James Braly: Life in a Marital Institution has been called “gaspingly funny” (Variety), “never less than excellent” (The New York Times), and “a masterpiece of storytelling” (The List). It was even recently optioned for film and television by Meredith Vieira Productions. The national tour of the show opens this Friday at South Orange Performing Arts Center in New Jersey. CulturePOP sat down with Braly to chat about monologues, marriage, and Meredith.

CP: How did your one-man show evolve?

JB: I used to live a very different life. I was a corporate speechwriter. I lived in the same building with Jerry Seinfeld and I moved into the storage unit of the building for five days a week. I moved my family upstate. It was a converted tailor shop, 9-1/2 floor — an architectural anomaly. I had about 50 square feet. There was a toilet. I joined the JCC and took my showers there. I worked on my show. Workshopped it at Vixen Place. John Koerber saw the show. I was the first guy to win the Moth. I had a small following based on my performance experience at the Moth. The next night I get a call from John Koerber, who was the last guy in, it sold out. “I saw your show last night and I’ve seen everyone — Spaulding Grey, Eric Bogosian. I think you could do it, and I want to be a part of it.” That changed the course of the show. The next concrete manifestation was landing in Edinburgh and doing the Fringe at the Assembly Theatre. The night before the 11th (I believe) show, I met Peter Tear, the executive producer of 59E59, in the bar at Assembly Theatre, where I was performing.  He told me he and Elysabeth Kleinhans, the president and artistic director, would be seeing the show the next day. The next day, he and Elysabeth were in the front row. And the show clicked.

Afterward, they were standing right there when I emerged from the broom closet, which during the Fringe — with thousands of shows running at the same time, and every available space therefore in use — often qualifies as backstage. They said they want to bring the show to New York. A few days later, Little Johnny Koerber, the show’s executive producer/principal backer, flew over to Edinburgh; the four of us had dinner; and that was that. Next stop: Off Off Broadway.

CP: What did Hal Brooks bring to the project?

JB: Hal brought a kind of rigor to approaching the presentation. I had been performing at the Moth. You never perform the same story twice at the Moth. You always have novelty on your side. There’s an excitement that runs through you and the audience. It’s very different than presenting the same piece many nights in a row. Hal brought a sense of technical craft to pull that off. He told me in the first rehearsal, “My job is not to laugh; it’s to pay attention, take notes, and make you better.” Brutal, constructive, and productive honesty. From that collaboration, I emerged. We transferred it to the Soho Playhouse, and that’s when Meredith Vieira Productions got involved. I e-mailed Amy Rapp the monologue and we had an instant connection. We instantly knew that we were good for each other. She is to the screen adaptation what Hal is to the theatrical.

CP: Why is marriage good fodder and inspiration for theatrical material?

JB: It’s good fodder for theatrical material because it’s inherently dramatic. Whenever you put two people in the same car and you end up at an intersection, one wants to turn left, one turns right. You might realize that you let a pathologically left turner into your car who never wants you to turn right. Then, you have to spend the next thousand miles turning left. Relationships are journeys of discovery, and a marriage is probably the most intense because you make a commitment that you’re not going to pull out. The show poses the question: that love is what love was. If you want to understand your marriage, you have to understand the family you came from, and if you want to understand the family you came from, take a look at your marriage. The frame for the whole piece is in a hospice where my sister is dying. She decides to get married on her deathbed. The chaos that ensues becomes a window by which to see my own marriage.

CP: What’s flat-out fun about marriage?

JB: Telling stories about it. Meta marriage is flat-out fun. It depends on what stage of the relationship you’re in. Having children is infinitely entertaining, satisfying. I have discovered an emotional continent I never knew existed. Unconditional love.

CP: As a monologuist, what is your advice on the art of conversation?

JB: You need to meet the needs of your audience. If you don’t meet their needs, they won’t come back. One of the ways you meet their needs is by being sensitive to what they’re experiencing. There is a dying art of conversation. It is because of media. People aren’t learning how to entertain themselves or another person. They are going away instead of cultivating the art of engaging. Notice when someone’s eyes glaze over. Engage them.

Michelle Fiordaliso, MSW, is a writer, psychotherapist, coauthor of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ex, and 2008 recipient of a PEN USA award for fiction. She has been featured as a relationship expert on TV and radio shows such as Today, Tyra, and Oprah & Friends and believes that true bliss lies in bringing creativity to the quotidian acts of life.

Image: Courtesy of The Moth