Ana Gasteyer: I’m Hip

Steve Murray | December 9, 2015

Ana Gasteyer

I’m Hip

Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, CA, December 4, 2015

Reviewed by Steve Murray for Cabaret Scenes

Thank the Cabaret Gods for Ana Gasteyer. Of course she’s uproariously funny —you knew that from her six seasons of Saturday Night Live. She applies her quick wit, bawdiness and joy of working a room throughout her delightful new show, highlighting selections from her latest similarly-titled CD.

Opening with a comic take on “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (with special lyrics by DJ Bob Rivers), Gasteyer sings what we’re all thinking: It’s the most fattening time of the year. She continues the Christmas theme with “(Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man with the Bag” (Irving Taylor/Dudley Brooks/Hal Stanley), an homage to Kay Starr. Gasteyer shines on the 1932 comic jewel “Crazy People” (associated with The Boswell Sisters), bringing a controlled looniness to the fast-paced novelty song. She smartly chooses her material, including “Shopping Around” from Harold Rome’s musical Wish You Were Here (which won Sheila Bond a Tony back in 1952), and her amazing vocal delivery on the tongue-twisting comic gem “A Proper Cup of Coffee” (R.P Weston/Bert Lee). The tune is a 1920s English music hall ditty and Gasteyer masters the increasingly manic pace accompanied by a Mideastern clarinet melody by Charlie McCarthy. It’s a pure delight.

Gasteyer harkens back to the golden age of female nightclub singers who first commanded a room with their talent and moxy. The legendary Frances Faye and Rusty Warren come to mind, whom Gasteyer pays tribute to on “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate” (Clarence Williams and Armand Piron). Gasteyer’s I’m Hip is certainly the hippest show you’ll see this holiday season.

Tags: A Proper Cup of Coffee, American Songbook, Ana Gasteyer, Armand Piron, Bert Lee, Broadway Musicals, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Charlie McCarthy, Clarence Williams, Clubs, Composers, Crazy People, DJ Bob Rivers, Dudley Brooks, Everybody's Waitin for the Man with the Bag, Feinstein's at the Nikko, Frances Faye, Great American Songbook, Hal Stanley, Harold Rome, I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, I’m Hip, Irving Taylor, Jazz, Jazz Singers, Kay Starr, lyricists, Musicals, Musicians, Nightclubs, Popular Song, R.P. Weston, Revues, Rusty Warren, San Francisco, Saturday Night Live, Sheila Bond, Shopping Around, Show Tunes, Singers, Songbook, Standards, Steve Murray, Supper Clubs, The Boswell Sisters, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Tony, Venues, Vocalists, Wish You Were Here