Raanan Hershberg is a derelict dilettante. He is one of Louisville’s finest comedians who is constantly writing, performing and putting together new shows to showcase our city’s funniest comics. He spearheaded the “Young, Dumb, & Full of Comedy” show, which was an alt-comedy platform for comedians to do their more unconventional material at The Bard’s Town every other week. He is also one of the masterminds who helped found “The Celebrity Roasts” with comedian Will Hardesty.
He is a playwright and a stand-up comic who regularly tours and performs not just all over Louisville and Kentucky, but also up and down the entire east coast.
This weekend will be the Louisville debut of his latest one-man show “Self Helpless.” This is his third one-man show after “Crying Behind 3-D Glasses,” which reexamined the nostalgia behind the movies of his youth, while his second show “Please Someone F@#K Me!” turned the looking glass on losing his virginity and how that experience has shaded every sexual encounter he’s has since.
“Self Helpless” is a look Hershberg himself. His arrested development. His stunted emotional growth. His general inability to change into a better person. The round, chain smoking drinker will never become a svelte, marathon-running vegan. It’s simply not in his genetic makeup to adapt to change in the same way most people do. And it is around that premise that Hershberg has written his latest one-man show. He’s coming clean and explaining himself to the rest of the world, and at the same time imagining what his life could be if he were prone to change. He’s already performed it in Nashville and Indianapolis, now he’s bringing it home to Louisville.
Raanan Hershberg’s “Self-Helpless” will make its Louisville debut at The Bard’s Town June 26-27. Tickets range from $10-$15, and performances both nights begin at 10 p.m.
Artwork courtesy of Mark Parris
