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"The Words You Long to Hear"
Too shocking, wild and hilarious to be made up.
Verbatim Verboten, created in Chicago over 10 years ago by MICHAEL MARTIN, is an ever-changing revue of brief, staged transcripts. This is an evening of word-for-word performances of noted and notorious folk (also some 'civilians') saying things they never intended the public to hear: sureveillance tapes, wiretapped conversations, forgotten live mics, on-camera diatribes, released emails, private correspondence, 911 calls, and the like. The producers have collected almost 400 such pieces, with new material being added to the mix all the time...meaning no performance is exactly ...Read More
"The Words You Long to Hear"
Too shocking, wild and hilarious to be made up.
Verbatim Verboten, created in Chicago over 10 years ago by MICHAEL MARTIN, is an ever-changing revue of brief, staged transcripts. This is an evening of word-for-word performances of noted and notorious folk (also some 'civilians') saying things they never intended the public to hear: sureveillance tapes, wiretapped conversations, forgotten live mics, on-camera diatribes, released emails, private correspondence, 911 calls, and the like. The producers have collected almost 400 such pieces, with new material being added to the mix all the time...meaning no performance is exactly like the one before.
Verbatim Verboten has enjoyed extended successful runs in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, New York, and New Orleans.
The show runs roughly 75 minutes. Given the brevity of most of the transcripts, we perform 20-25 per show.
We promise to perform the transcripts verbatim, but we don't promise not to, um...re-interpret them in staging and delivery.
We vary the program every performance.
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New Orleans...
"In the simplest theatrical mode -- but also the most effective -- the actors perform the transcripts word for word, taking only some license with intonation or emphasis. The results are at points riotously funny, shamelessly embarrassing and even a bit scary as the audience finds itself eavesdropping on comments never meant to be heard.
"...As viciously cutting as some of the material may be, there is a whimsical feel to this verbal voyeurism....[T]he show [has] an easygoing, casual nature....no piece is too lengthy. Each is a pleasing hors d'oeuvre passed around a pleasant cocktail party -- tasty and different enough to keep the audience wanting another." --Times-Picayune
New York...
"This show delivers the raw goods. Deeply funny and just plain disturbing." --The New York Observer
"...Verbatim is up far more often than it is down. All eight performers do an excellent job, with a great deal of presence and comic timing. Everyone clearly has fun with the material, and that fun is contagious." --offoffline.com
"[F]resh and edgy for audience and performers alike." --flavorpill.com
Chicago...
"Michael Martin's merrily damning series features staged readings of the private conversations of public figures. ...[B]oy, did Martin pick a good time to bring it back. Given the recent caught-on-tape remarks of such notables as Christian Bale, Pastor Ted Haggard, Prince Harry, and, of course, former governor Rod Blagojevich, we seem to have entered the golden age of surreptitiously recorded stupidity... Sure it's trash, but just try to resist." --The Chicago Reader
"A smartened-up National Enquirer." --TimeOut Chicago
Seattle...
"At it's best, it's blisteringly funny, really creepy -- or both." --The Seattle Times
"Hilarity abounds, especially when we're treated to a nattily done naughty bit, a rehashing of bitchy Orson Welles outtakes, or anything involving Coco the gorilla." --The Stranger
Minneapolis...
"This is fucking ridiculous, and fucking great." --Wake Magazine
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