The Off-Broadway Comedy Review: Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!

By Ross

It really is something, this Leo Reich and his Literally Who Cares?! comedy show now being performed at the Greenwich House Theater. Diving into some sharp waters, Gen-Z style, he faces off against our complicated collective future with the quickest of tongues. And finds fascinatingly funny moments of pure wild commentary delivered with a bravado most definitely reserved for the young at heart. But aimed and enjoyed by all.

I don’t typically go to see standup. Nothing really against it, but theatre, live, scripted theatre is where my heart truly lives and breathes, but I was convinced. Somehow. Not by anything pointedly particular, but one of my theatre junkie friends who posted about the show on Instagram told me I should when I asked after getting a press invite in my inbox. And I was free that Sunday night, so I thought, why not? I may be surprised.

And I was. Captivatingly funny and biting, Leo Reich is described as “Hot. Young. Cool. Fresh. Ripped. Hilarious. Groundbreaking. Avant-garde.” Yet, I wondered, could anyone really live up to all of those words, thrown out with confident abandonment. But he does seem to, as the show swirls out towards us with a wild abandonment that is truly astounding. This “self-diagnosed, important young mind” flies into our face, doing a pretty fantastic job of balancing youthful arrogance and dismissiveness with a sharp, perfectly articulated, and dynamic edge. Playing to an echo chamber of love and connection, it’s really quite the marvel, sharing his mental space and perfectly crafted opinions with us, as notoriously sharp and quick as they are. The jokes and quick asides fly out with speedy ease from this insightful young man, living and breathing inside a tight shirt and short shorts, emphasizing the artistry and the wit of this “portrait of the artist as a ripped slut.” To say more, would ruin the ridiculously funny slap and poke of this wild, wonderful mindful romp through this young man’s mind, and that would be unfair to him, and to us all.

Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?! debuted to rave reviews at both the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2022 and London’s Soho Theatre in October, selling out the venues with the same ease of a casual kick to the beat. He saunters around the stage delivering unapologetically some pretty well-focused sharply edited songs and current big-question anecdotes. Asking, what he states, are some pretty important and timely questions, such as, “Am I hot?” and “Is this helping?” Directed with a wise tight briskness by Adam Brace (Alex Edelman’s Just for Us), the energetic, engagingly sharp show, features deliciously composed music by Tony Award winner Toby Marlow (Six) with a popping lighting design by Daniel Carter-Brennan (Liz Kingsman’s One Woman Show), in a show that delivers beyond any expectations I could have possibly carried into the downtown Greenwich House Theater. It’s hilariously funny and wise, far beyond his Gex-Z years, in his valiant, very successful attempt to raise awareness about “important social and political causes” existing in this traumatic world we all are trying to survive, post-pandemic, “and that” I’m telling you, most sincerely, “is valid.” 100%.

Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?! plays a strictly limited engagement from February 15 – March 11, 2023, at Greenwich House Theater (27 Barrow Street, NYC). Click here for info.