If Memory Serves
SEX, SOBRIETY, AND PROFOUND STUPIDITY… the horrors are indescribable, but you’ve still got to serve!
And if memory serves, NYC comedian Michael John Ciszewski made a fine, fabulous mess of things before getting sober five years ago. Help him remember everything he wishes he could forget—from transformative pop culture and hookups with radical leftists to queer villainy and accidental car theft. Make new memories on the scorched earth of a gay youth quite literally WASTED in this hilarious and searingly honest hour of comedy JAM-PACKED with LAUGHS about anxiety, identity, relationships, and the inscrutable conundrum of existence!
Heralded as “superbly written and immaculately performed” and “hilarious and brutally honest,” IF MEMORY SERVES debuted at a sold-out Brooklyn performance in February 2024 before acclaimed engagements in Boston and Manhattan. IF MEMORY SERVES is fresh and HOT off a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Just the Tonic, one of the UKs leading comedy presenters, where the show was long-listed for the Queer Performer’s Award at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where BingeFringe magazine called the show “slick, sensitive and deeply enjoyable,” and lauded Ciszewski as “equal parts engrossing storyteller as he is whip-smart comic.” The show was also named as #50 on a list of the top 100 shows at the 2024 Fringe based on analysis of audience and critical reviews by Fringebiscuit. It also played a run at the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, where the show sold out multiple times.
IF MEMORY SERVES is the fourth solo hour from “a one-of-a-kind storyteller” that’s earned raves from critics and audiences with “its unmatched blend of pop culture, pathos, and silly queer-assery!” Ciszewski has previously packed raucous, rapt houses in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Provincetown MA, and New Jersey.
IF MEMORY SERVES is directed by Noah Simes (Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare, The Penumbra Podcast) and produced by Brian Dudley (Lovefool, NY Fringe).
NEW YORK CITY
The PIT • November 15 2024 8:30pm • Buy Tickets
Photo by Henrik Sym
IF MEMORY SERVES is…
created and performed by Michael John Ciszewski
directed by Noah Simes
produced by Brian Dudley
photography by @iAmZekeD (promotional),
Henrik Sym & Brian Dudley (production)
PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENTS HAVE FEATURED PERFORMERS SUCH AS…
💭 Vassileia Kazee , a comedian and producer based in NYC. She co-hosts Loose Lips Comedy, works at The Daily Show and has seen every single video on TikTok.com :) @vassileiafoxy
💭 Edson Montenegro , a character and sketch comedian/actor/writer based in Brooklyn. They were recently cast on Maude night at Upright Citizens Brigade and have comedic essays published on Insider. @edsonmountaineggroll
💭 Reina NoBuena, a silly and hot natural blonde with a fat ass and a heart of gold. @reinanobuena
💭 Motti, a New York born and raised comic, writer, and producer who performs all over Brooklyn and Manhattan and has appeared on @t4tcomedy, @thelesbianagendashow, We’re Having Gay Sex (LIVE at the Bell House), Billy on the street, and more. @hotfunnysmartmotti
💭 Nora Panahi, an Iranian-American standup comic with great hair and a manual transmission. She has been featured in HBO’s Women in Comedy Festival, the yallapunk Arts Festival, and @bostonaapi_comedyfestival. The host of @rozzisquaretheater Queer Comedy Night, Nora can be found performing all over Boston, NYC, and New England. @whokillednorapanahi
💭 Zach Stewart, an up-and-coming comedian in the Boston stand-up scene who performs in venues around the Boston area including @citywinerybos, Don’t Tell Boston, and @improvasylum. He produces HOMOERRATIC, a queer monthly stand-up showcase at @clubcafeboston, and co-produces FRUITS BY THE FOOT at Distraction Brewing and MENDOZA LINE at the Dugout Cafe. @zstewart410