Review: 2016 Bistro Award Winner Sharon McNight Sets Out to Offend Almost Everyone and Mostly Succeeds at The Duplex

Having recently added a 2016 Bistro Award for "Commanding Cabaret Artistry" to her list of accolades (including a Tony nomination and Theater World Award for her 1989 Broadway debut in Starmites), Sharon McNight belted and growled her way through Songs to Offend Almost Everyone at the second of her two shows at the Duplex (March 10). If Mae West and George Carlin had by some miracle produced a daughter and Elaine Stritch was the child's nanny, she would have grown up to sound like McNight.

A performer since "19-[mumble-mumble-mumble]," the cabaret veteran is indeed commanding. Her clear, powerful voice fills even a large space like Gotham Comedy Club, where she belted at the Bistro Awards a couple of nights before. In a very small venue like the Duplex, however, one wishes that she modulated the act somewhat. After a predictable catalogue of racial and ethnic slurs to warn the audience that this was not a show for the faint of heart, McNight opened well with a trio of comedic numbers, including two terrific Tom Lehrer songs: "Old Dope Peddler" and "Poisoning Pigeons," which (like all the songs in the set) were expertly played by the terrific Ian Herman on piano.

No show aiming to offend would be complete without a jab or two at religion, and McNight does not disappoint. "Would God Wear a Rolex?" (Chet Atkins/Margaret Archer) was hilarious and surely one of the evening's highlights. Randy Newman's "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" also worked well, expressing much the same view in starker terms than the Atkins/Archer tune.

"Your Son Isn't Going Through A Stage," Rick Crom's parody of the Noel Coward song pitched to the mother of a gay son still in denial of her son's sexuality, was equally poignant and funny.

Less compelling (even to a critic, like me, whose liberal politics mostly mirror McNight's) was Newman's satirical "Political Science." Using the 1972 song as a commentary on the George W. Bush presidency and the wars post-9/11, the song seemed somewhat out of place. The lyrical sophistication of "You Can't Eat Dog in Taiwan" (D. Buskin/R. Carlson/G. Wurzbach a.k.a. Modern Man) reminds one of a Gilbert and Sullivan song gone wrong, and McKnight's phrasing and enunciation was masterful. The sexually graphic "Merrilou" (Durwood Douche) was well received but beyond raunchy. A moving and original rendition of "I Never Do Anything Twice" (Stephen Sondheim) felt downright cleansing after the vaguely pornographic song that preceded it.

McNight has a strong, salty onstage presence, and she's a great raconteur. The material in this show would not resonate with everyone (not even fans of aggressive, in-your-face standup comedy), but Songs to Offend Almost Anyone reveals why the performer has enjoyed the success she has over so many decades.

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