Calling Alicia Keys, Bridget Jones, and You

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 28, 2007 7:30PM

Hold onto your lunch money - recess is in session tonight at the Green Mill with the return of Mortified, a live comedy production based almost entirely on the forgotten artifacts of disaffected youth. Sometimes truth is stranger (and a heck of a lot funnier) than fiction, and the overwrought journal excerpts, angsty poems, and unrequited love letters culled from the performers’ teenage years make for a hilarious reminder that it’s totally awesome to be grown up.

Launched in Los Angeles, Mortified struck an instant chord with anyone who’d ever thought the world was ending because another girl had the same prom dress or you didn’t make the marching band. The nostalgia element is high - not only for the days of raging hormones and raging house parties, but for the camaraderie one feels in knowing that someone else TOTALLY thought Are You Afraid of the Dark? was scary AND once asked for 38 cassette singles (including Del Amitri and Salt-n-Pepa) for her twelfth birthday.

Casting is done through the Mortified website, and is open to anyone who ever doodled initials in a heart on a Trapper Keeper. If you’re embarrassed to read something from your teen years aloud, chances are it’s exactly what Mortified is looking for. No topic is off limits, from a desperate crush on a science teacher or cat fight with a sibling over the TV remote to detailed illustrations of substance abuse, depression, and divorce. Call it cathartic or exhibitionary, but it’s always cringe-worthy, memorable, captivating, and ultimately redemptive.

The Mortified live show hits the Green Mill tonight at 8pm. Tickets are $10 and available online or by calling 877-238-5596.

Thanks, Lizz!