Customer Reviews

Eric Bogosian: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

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I have always strongly identified with Eric Bogosian's work. No other writer has expressed my own thoughts and feelings so completely and with such commanding prose. I first discovered this kindred spirit upon viewing Oliver Stone's adaptation of Bogosian's play, Talk Radio, in which he played the protagonist, Barry Champlain. I was absolutley floored by the script and I soon owned a copy of the original stage play. The book that I purchased entitled, "The Essential Bogosian," also included three of his early one man shows: Drinking in America, Funhouse, and Men Inside. It is with these one man shows that Bogosian's singular talent is illuminated. I am simply amazed, enthralled, and moved by these performance pieces. I began to write some monologues of my own. I also rented productions of Funhouse and Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll (another one man show). The latter became my favorite. I felt like he was reading my mind.

Wake up and Smell the Coffee is the best show yet. For one thing, it's funnier. Even the really dark stuff is absolutely hilarious. While the tone is more seasoned, none of the excruciating candor is compromised. In fact, my favorite two monologues are autobiographic - Bogosian as Bogosian.

Nothing is easy. No assumptions are made. Nothing is taken for granted. Everything is open for analysis. Perhaps I am biased because I share his paradigm of ultimate absurdity but, I think Eric Bogosian is a frickin genius.

I have been fortunate enough to see Bogosian perform live on several occasions. Stage performances don't always translate well to the film/video medium, but this recording is pretty true to the experience, which is, of course, fantastic.

I originally purchased "Wake Up and Smell The Coffee" with two purposes in mind. I had seen H.S. Drama students performing excerpts from the DVD as monologues and I was curious to see more. As such, I was attempting to 1.) satify my own personal interest in theatre, and 2.) exploring the potential of the DVD as a teaching text for senior high school Drama students by studying how one actor performances (like Anthony Sher's Primo) can be entertaining, sustain an audience relationship and utilise a variety of performance techniques. Especially for those students that don't have regular access to live performance for whatever reason.

Personally, I found "Wake Up and Smell The Coffee" an excellent, entertaining and challenging show. It has been recorded maintaining a sense of the live performance atmosphere and the interview extra adds another interesting perspective to the whole performance making process. I particularly love how Bogosian manages to link each set piece into a collective thematic whole that not only entertains but also provokes us. He doesn't seem to hold back on any taboo subjects and attacks pertinent topics. The show seems so relevant to our contermporary world that there is a starting notice informing us that the performance was written and performed prior to September 11th 2001. I would happily recommend the DVD to anyone interested in performance, social commentary and/or comedy.

In regards to my second purpose as a teaching tool, I would feel less comfort offering this DVD to a room of senior students to watch as a whole but there are certainly plenty of sections within that would lend themselves to a student viewing and will help budding actors to appreciate how one actor can use elements of theatre to create a engaging performance.

Finally, as a theatre lover, I would like to thank Mr. Bogosian for making this performance available

I loved the product. I've watched it several times and each time is funnier than the last one. I'd like to see more of his videos. They make the books understandable for content and how he says things.