The (Almost) Complete and (Mostly) Accurate History of Alcohol Is a Fast-Paced Sketch Comedy Delight

Comedy Central’s Drunk History meets Saturday Night Live at the Bryant Lake Bowl in The (Almost) Complete and (Mostly) Accurate History of Alcohol, “a 90-minute sketch comedy tour-de-force that explores society’s fascination with alcohol from ancient Greece to prohibition and beyond.” Like each of Josh Carson’s theatrical endeavors before it, this show—which has performances through September 30—is presented at a breakneck pace. The talented cast is well suited to the challenge, although I always wish we had the technology for live captioning because I think I miss at least a quarter of the jokes because they’re buried in laughter and delivered a mile a minute. Fans of Carson who missed him in this year’s Fringe Festival will be glad for the opportunity to enjoy his style of comedy before he takes over the Bryant Lake Bowl for the upcoming holiday season.

Josh Carson and Leslie Vincent star in The (Almost) Complete and (Mostly) Accurate History of Alcohol. Courtesy of Josh Carson

History of Alcohol has a variety of sketches and features a delightful gin-inspired dance number, which was clearly a favorite of the audience (including me) at the opening-night performance. Particular comedic standouts are a raunchy round of “What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor?” wherein a parrot does not quite understand the nuance of friendly pranking; an elaborate origin story of college fraternities, complete with bedsheet togas, a dramatic game of flip cup, and lively sports commentators; and the absolute nightmare scenario of invoking the spirit of Bloody Mary only to find a Sunday Brunch Girlie haunting your bathroom instead. The performers had great chemistry with one another and presented a polished show of overall funny and well-written sketches with nice prop work, tech, and costuming. In addition to Carson, the cast features Kelsey Laurel Cramer, Thalia Bea Kostman, Thomas Matthes, Neal Skoy, Allison Vincent, and Leslie Vincent.

Opening night offered extra excitement in the form of a broken glass, something that will make any theater person experience a full-body clench-up but gave Leslie Vincent the opportunity to go into crisis management mode and really demonstrate to the audience that she’s an invaluable addition to the cast given that a surprising number of the sketches following the glass break involved rolling, crawling, or otherwise writhing around on the stage. If nothing else, it was a very good reminder to me personally to always use plastic, because I am 100 percent cocky and imagine everything going perfectly at all times, but of course theater is almost always a disaster waiting to happen. The question is usually “What kind of disaster is happening today?” and then hoping that you have the right team in your corner to appropriately manage that disaster.

You’ve still got three chances to check out The (Almost) Complete and (Mostly) Accurate History of Alcohol: September 28, 29, and 30 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $18 and available in advance online through Eventbrite or at the door. The theater opens a full hour ahead of time, at 6:00, and I suggest arriving early and getting dinner and a beverage. The Bryant Lake Bowl offers its full menu of delicious food and drinks in the theater, so it makes a great date night or a fun evening with friends.