REVIEW: Cohen, Bernstein, Joni and Me
Deb Filler's Highgate show is welcome warmth on a cold night
On a typically filthy January night it was difficult to drag oneself out into the murk to see Deb Filler’s one-woman show, Cohen, Bernstein, Joni and Me. And it has to be admitted that when the tousle-haired Filler bounced on stage, with a spot of what sounded like communal singing, my heart sank.
But it just goes to show that appearances can be deceptive, because the New Zealand-born Filler’s show is a hilarious delight, sure to enchant Jewish audiences, and well worth braving any amount of inclement weather for.
Filler has skilfully woven a lifetime of genuinely funny anecdotes into a great piece of entertainment, just long enough to leave you wanting more.
We bounce from Filler’s admittedly unpromising beginnings in New Zealand, adored daughter of mildly pushy parents — her father, a baker, was a Holocaust survivor — to her encounters with the famous and the not-so-famous.
Mrs Filler’s declared ambition was to make her daughter “an international star by the age of 10” — and she very nearly succeeded. Filler has a great voice and a wonderful talent for aping accents in characters young and old, ranging from street trash in New York to doddering toothless men, with everyone in-between.
To recount the details of her accidental-on-purpose — or simply accidental — meetings with the eponymous Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell — would be to give away the treats of the show. So no spoilers.
Suffice to say that there is a lot of Yiddish, including a fabulous rendering of Cohen’s Hallelujah, some terrible Jewish jokes at which I laughed like a drain, and some great historic pictures to back up Filler’s more extravagant claims — yes, she really did do all those things and then some.
It’s a short run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate — only until 1 February. Do yourself a favour and go out into the murk for an evening of warmth and laughter. You won’t regret it.
Cohen, Bernstein, Joni and Me is at Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 1 February. upstairsatthegatehouse.com
Click here to read our interview with Deb Filler
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