Laughable love stories this Valentine's Day at Metropolis
One's from the north side, the other from the south side. One writes poetry, the other rides a Harley. One plays video games, the other goes bow hunting. The theory of opposites attract prevails once again in the form of the comedic duo Bikerman and the Jewish Avenger.
Bikerman and the Jewish Avenger, better known as Metropolis Executive Director Jim Jarvis and Metropolis Resident Playwright Scott Woldman, have been performing their gut-busting storytelling shows for more than 15 years to packed houses and rave reviews. On Feb. 12, the duo bring their valentine's show, "Love Hurts… A Lot!," to Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights.
“To be honest with you, Woldman could never get a date for Valentine's Day. I felt bad for him and, being the kind friend that I am, I said let's do a show so you won't be alone on Valentine's Day. It pretty much took off from there," said Jarvis.
“Actually,” Woldman retorts, “the reason it was so successful in the old days is Jim would invite every woman he was dating at the time, which filled up half the theater. So it made ticket sales easy and it made for a really interesting time after the show when he had to keep all of the women from talking to one another," said Woldman.
The Bikerman and Jewish Avenger shows evolve over time, starting with Woldman and Jarvis telling each other stories during rehearsal and then taking shape from there.
“We'd walk into a show with at least 10 good stories a piece we could tell. Then we'd interview an audience member and whatever subject matter that struck us from that interview, we'd tell those stories. It was a different show every time," said Woldman.
“It's a great way to generate material and it helps to keep everything fresh,” adds Jarvis. “This Valentine's Day, we're not interviewing anyone only to save some time, but we're not totally sure what stories we're going to tell. It will all come down to how we feel the night of the show. Plus, we're just too lazy to write our stories down, so we cover ourselves by saying it's creatively cool to work unscripted,” said Jarvis.
As for material for their Valentine's special, Jarvis and Woldman look no farther than their own love lives.
"One of the stories we told last year was about a double date that Woldman and I went on with my girlfriend at the time and her boss. He thought it was funny to show up at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock dressed in a white leisure suit and chains, looking like a character from Saturday Night Fever. It just got more bizarre from there,” explained Jarvis.
Plenty more ludicrous, extraordinary, but most of all hilarious stories are in store with "Bikerman and the Jewish Avenger: Love Hurts… A Lot!" at 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12 at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St. in downtown Arlington Heights. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at www.metropolisarts.com or by calling the box office at (847) 577-2121.