Josh Kornbluth
Josh Kornbluth will perform two of his award-winning solo shows this year. “What Is To Be Done?” is Josh’s latest solo offering. “Ben Franklin: Unplugged” is one of Josh’s classic pieces.
What Is To Be Done? – Fighting Fascism and Depression
A story of defeating depression by resisting fascism — and defeating fascism by resisting depression — this show is funny, inspired, timely, and deeply human. How do we find joy, even hope, in dark times? How can we discover our own power when the news makes us feel powerless? Is it possible both to acknowledge our current trauma and break through to positive action?
Josh creates his renowned long-form monologues through improvisation, and this improvised performance is part of the journey toward his next piece.
Developed in collaboration with Jon Tracy.
Ben Franklin: Unplugged – Gazing into the bathroom mirror one morning while shaving, Josh Kornbluth realizes that he looks remarkably like the guy on the $100 bill. Like any good Jewish son, he immediately calls his mother. From there he becomes obsessed with what it means to be a founding father, especially when your own father/son relationship (Ben had an illegitimate son named William who was a British loyalist during the Revolutionary War) is more than a bit strained. Part History Detectives and part embarrassingly hilarious autobiography, Kornbluth’s resulting investigation of the man behind the famous spectacles will take you from the hallowed halls of academia to Kornbluth’s richly comic interactions with his mother Bunny and Aunt Birdie, sharing along the way his discoveries about America’s history, family foibles, and the surprises beneath the surface of even our most familiar American tall tales.
In addition, you have three chances to have coffee with Josh while he leads a workshop designed to inspire you to write your own life story.
Sundays March 8, 15, and 22 at 11:00 am.
“Josh Kornbluth is a genius: his latest show displays the full breadth of his keen insights and biting wit.”
–Theatrius
Review of “What Is To Be Done?”
Review of “Ben Franklin: Unplugged”
Josh Kornbluth
Festival Curator and Performer
Josh has been creating and performing autobiographical monologues for over three decades. Red Diaper Baby, his Off-Broadway debut, was selected for the Best American Plays of 1992 collection and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. He wrote and starred in feature-film adaptations of two of his shows, Haiku Tunnel (which was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics) and Love & Taxes (a “100% Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes) — both directed by his brother Jacob Kornbluth. For two years he hosted his own interview program on KQED-TV in San Francisco, cleverly titled The Josh Kornbluth Show. He was a Visiting Artist, and later a volunteer, at the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco. He has also been a Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute, based at UCSF. His “Citizen Brain” videos (citizenbrain.org) have been viewed by over half a million people. He has a Substack called “But Not Enough About Me” (https://joshkornbluth.substack.com/), which you can subscribe to for free. You can also find him at joshkornbluth.com. He lives in Berkeley with his wife and son.