Tomatoestried to Kill meBut Banjos Saved My Life
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I missed this show in 2022 and was keen to catch it early this year. Now an established international success, it’s a fine piece of American storytelling....
Keith Alessi plays the banjo. Keith Alessi also tells jokes. However, Keith Alessi is not Steve Martin.
A banjo, the lean and kindly man tells us, draws a line to the past – back to circles of players whiling away pre-electric evenings in the Blue Ridge Mountains, back to the vestigial sound of bagpipes urging Scotsmen across a battlefield, back even to primeval times, with people sitting around campfires and vocalizing with grunts and hums.
Audience Feedback
I went to see this because I like banjo music, but it was infintely more than that. The personal story of how a love of music can raise you from the worst that life can do. Highly recommended!
That was, without doubt, the finest fringe-style show I have ever seen. It was sensational in every important way. The subject was compelling. The script was carefully crafted: there was not one surplus word, and there were a number of clever connections to earlier moments. The use of tomatoes and banjos for life’s challenges and victories is nothing short of brilliant. It was poignant, moving, funny and uplifting. And your storytelling superb. It was so impressive."
Nice Loved this show! Riveting and profound. Live life to the fullest."