Written & Performed by Alicia Dattner
Directed by Katie Rubin
Opening “Kirtan” Music by Mirabai & Friends
Jewish princess seeks Indian guru for one life stand!
In this true-life story, Alicia leaves the safety of her identity as a comedian in San Francisco for a three-month solo adventure across India, in search of self. Ha! From seductive French yoga teachers to scary Indian toilets, she pokes fun at her Western monkey-mind irritations, including the Italian fashion exporter with a Krishna fetish and mosquitoes the size of small ponies, to the Chabad House on the Ganges, ultimately, discovering the true meaning of mustaches and masala chai.
Renowned musician, Mirabai Warkulwiz opens the show and sets the stage, joining Alicia in creating a total Jew-in-India experience of homemade chai and prasad (Indian sweets), a splash of delicious kirtan music (call and response Sanskrit music), and a lot of laughter.
Voted Best Comedian in both the SF Weekly and SF Bay Guardian, Alicia Dattner has performed in Hollywood, Hawaii, Bali, New York, Bombay, and London, and she’s delighted to bring this epic show back home to the Bay where her heart is.
Artist Biography
Alicia Dattner did her first standup set at the tender age of 18 and performed often at The Marsh’s Mock Cafe. Mentored by several talented comedians over the years, W. Kamau Bell (HBO, FX, CNN), Eugene Mirman (Bob’s Burgers), and Bill Santiago (Comedy Central), she’s played at The Improv, The Punch Line, Cobb’s Comedy Club, and Gotham Comedy Club, around the world in Hollywood, Bombay, Bali, Hawaii, New York, and London.
After a dozen years of doing standup, she’s now racking up awards for her humorous, insightful one-woman shows. Fresh from a sold-out run Off Broadway in New York this spring, Alicia’s shows and extended runs have garnered her a number of awards, including Best Comedian in both the SF Weekly and SF Bay Guardian.
Kirtan singer Mirabai is trained in jazz and folk, and found the bhakti (devotional) path in 2002. Mirabai has studied Indian music and kirtan with Jai Uttal, Sargam Shah, and Krishna Das.
Director Katie Rubin has been toured her first comedic solo show, “Insides OUT!”, to venues across the country for 8 years and has been acting and performing ever since.
Press Info
“I enjoyed hearing the language of my ancestors and the traditions of my culture at the welcoming Marsh theater in Berkeley” –Theatrius
“A voyage of self-discovery, played for laughs” –East Bay Times
“By the end of 90 minutes of ‘Eat, Pray, Laugh!’ the house is full of laughter” –Theatrius
“Funny. Comical. Wry self-awareness” –East Bay Times
“…a light-hearted, yet true-life journey across India” –Joint Forces Journal
“Alicia has taken her love of making people laugh, and given it a spiritual makeover.” –Theatrius
“Alicia takes us on her journey through aromatic and obscene smells, calm and chaos, bliss and harassment—while seated in a simple chair, wearing a soft pink and gold silk Indian blouse and traditional Indian slippers as her only stage props” –Sweeta Chawla of Theatrius
Show Info
Run: February 2 – April 1, 2017 | Berkeley
Thursdays at 8pm | Saturdays at 8:30pm
90 minutes | No Intermission | Ages 15+