If you follow Shereen Kassam on social media (@FunnyBrownGirl on Twitter and Instagram), or you know her in real life (like I do), then you know two very important things about her: 1) She’s single, and 2) she loves chicken wings.
Specifically flats. All flats, no drums. “People who like drums have a low IQ,” Shereen said during her one-woman show, 1,001 Red Flags (Shereen’s Version) in the Blue Venue at this year’s Orlando Fringe Festival.
As someone who has been married for 30 years, I can’t really relate to dating anymore, but I hear horror stories about dating from my kids, their friends, and story after story on social media. I have friends who are divorced and trying to date again, and friends in their 30s who are still trying to find their first special someone.
So I at least had an inkling of what Shereen has been experiencing with her dating. The most successful(?) relationship she had came about because of a Dating Game-type show that her radio show co-hosts organized. After weeding through the four bachelors, she ended up with Mat (only one T), a 5’6″ financially unstable firefighter with hair loss.
Shereen took us through her relationship with Mat, punctuating each chapter by changing her shoes, which may be the third important thing about her: she loves her Nikes. As she moved from one phase of the relationship to the next, she stopped and changed shoes, Mister Rogers-style, lining them up at the front of the stage as she spoke.
The audience was entirely engaged and Shereen interacted with them. We groaned, we laughed, people made comments. While other performers may have been thrown by this, Shereen is a professional stand-up comic, so she was able to incorporate her crowd work skills into the show, which added some additional laughs for the crowd.
But things took a turn as her relationship with Mat grew and changed, and she found more of the red flags she should have been aware of. She kept pulling them out of her shoes during her shoe change transitions and justified how she ignored them.
And shit finally got real as she shared how she had to deal with Mat’s racist parents, how he gaslit (gaslighted?) her when she was ignored at a restaurant and “chosen at random” for extra security screening by the TSA, and when Mat spent some of his college money — that Shereen loaned him — on hair plugs.
But, in the end, everything turned out. . . for the best. (Hey, if it was a happy ending, it wouldn’t be a Fringe show.)
I found the show to be funny — hilarious, in fact — and I was laughing along with the rest of the full house at all of Shereen’s jokes. I’ve had a chance to see Shereen’s stand-up in the past, and this may be some of her best work to date. I’m glad she was able to share her life and experiences with her hometown and show everyone why she was called Florida’s Funniest Female.
So if you want to find out how it all went down and to see some of the funniest fringeing this year, please check out Shereen Kassam in 1,001 Red Flags (Shereen’s version) at the Blue Venue (Santos Dantin Studio Theater) in the Lowndes Orlando Shakes theatre (812 E Rollins St.).
Show times:
- MAY 16, 2024 9.35PM
- MAY 18, 2024 9.50PM
- MAY 19, 2024 3.00PM
- MAY 20, 2024 8.10PM
- MAY 21, 2024 6.45PM
- MAY 24, 2024 10.20PM
- MAY 26, 2024 9.40PM
All tickets are $15, and all proceeds go to the artist. Also, remember that you need a Fringe button ($10) to be able to see shows and buy tickets.
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