PEPPER SLIT: LIVE IN HER LIVING ROOM Is Deranged Merriment At Its Finest — Review

Pepper Slit is the deranged and apparently age-defying star of stage and screen you’ve probably never heard of. A contemporary of Clara Bow and Marilyn Monroe, Pepper is Elaine Stritch and Little Edie and a Judy Garland/Liza Minnelli combo all packed into one lewd, downtrodden, delusional package and she’s invited us into her very own living room for her show, aptly titled, Pepper Slit: Live In Her Living Room.

Pepper is the brainchild of comedian and SNL alum Chloe Troast, who lends her singular weirdo charm and impressive vocal chops to this bloviating, knock-kneed diva of fading glamor. 

Pepper barely has time to emerge from her living room tub (don’t ask) before three movers from Piece of Sh*t Moving & Storage (Sam Blumenfeld, Gus Laughlin, and Josh Nasser) show up to let her know she’s being evicted. Sent by her landlord, they’ve been tasked with packing up Pepper’s things before the night is over. This prompts Pepper to examine her colorful career (Broadway: Next Stop: World War II; Cinema: Last Train to Puerto Rico; Advertisements: “Coconut Girl” for a morally questionable rum brand) and her even more colorful romantic life, which includes presidents and choreographer Bob Fosse, among others. 

Troast is our hilarious guide down memory lane alongside Charlie O’Connor, who accompanies Pepper in song and serves as her sidekick throughout. O’Connor, who’s also the production’s music director, wrote all the tuneful and laugh-out-loud original music Troast delivers with winks and an all-in, committed sincerity. Pepper is crass and self-important, but Troast imbues her with an innocence that keeps you rooting for her through mishap after mishap. 

Director Sam Blumenfeld, who also wrote & conceived the show alongside Troast, makes a memorable turn as choreographer Bob Fosse, even managing a tap number in the cramped East Village Basement. Laughlin and Nasser each shine in individual roles as well, but it’s as an ensemble that this trio is at its strongest and funniest. Once the excellent Jamie Linn Watson makes her appearance as Pepper’s evil “landlordista,” you can tell this troupe of comedians is firing on all cylinders. Watson’s “Take Me or Leave Me”-esque duet with Pepper is a highlight in an evening of hysterical songs and performances.

This delightfully zany show’s unpolished, sketch comedy quality keeps the audience, only inches away from the performers, involved in the night’s proceedings. Rodri Hernandez Martinez’s perfectly busy scenic design does too—some viewers sit on a tattered loveseat and a chaise longue. 

The entire creative team uses the limited space in ingenious ways, especially lighting designer Cha See, whose ability to create new moods and define spaces that surprise is impressive. Pepper’s parade of 40s-inspired costumes by Ricky Reynoso perfectly capture a star trapped in the era she came up in. 

There’s a surprising tenderness baked into this show that humanizes the cartoonish Pepper. Yes, there are plenty of gross-out gags and quick jabs, rimshots included, but it’s Pepper’s open heart and egg creams that keep you happily in her living room.

Pepper Slit: Live! In Her Living Room runs through August 29 at the East Village Basement. Ticket information here.