You may have seen him on NBC giving the weather forecast at some point in the past 40 years. Maybe you saw him do stand up on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Jay Leno. Maybe it was as an opening act for icons like Ray Charles or Debbie Reynolds. Maybe you saw him in his current show, Unassited Living, currently playing monthly at the El Portal theater. If it’s not the latter, don’t fret you still have time. Fritz Coleman is a man of many talents, including winning Emmy’s and being the unofficial mayor of Toluca Lake, but getting a laugh from an audience may be his best talent, and that is exactly what he is doing in this show.
Unassisted Living may be Coleman’s sarcastic love letter to aging, but audiences of all ages will enjoy the show. While the jokes are geared toward a senior crowd, there is an ultimate message from the show, and that is to appreciate getting old. It’s a blessing! As Coleman wrapped his show he said, “When you get old things, change. You eat less, your stomach gets bigger. You drink less, you pee more. But I’m old and I’m damn proud of it. Old is good.”
The show is a funnny reflection on the reality of life and Fritz’s personal life experiences. He makes plenty of jokes on how his life is changing with age, from being a superhero of pharmaceuticals to enjoying sex that “just needs to be better than pot roast.” He also finds the funny in the changing world, especially how lazy people have become following Covid and how kids are coddled. One of my favorite bits of the show was when Coleman talked about the lack of danger kids face in playing these days. He said back in his day, that was the fun of playing. Now, “kids go to the playground and it’s made of recycled Spanx, and they hit the ground and just bounce back up.” While these jokes were all great, what is so wonderful about this show is that it’s ever-changing. Each performance will be different than the last. But I am certain each show will continue to have the audience reflecting on their own life, while rolling in laughter.
Fritz Coleman, Unassisted Living is running through August 2024 at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, California. Click here for tickets. For more on Fritz Coleman and his storied career, visit FritzColemanComedy.com.
Photos Credit: Christopher Scott Knell, FIRELINE STUDIOS – Burbank, CA
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