They’ve been rejected by Hollywood — and love.
The annual celebration of St. Valentine, the Barry White of Catholicism, is the one day of the year when the “Rejection” in the popular comedy event, “The Rejection Show,” takes on a whole new meaning, according to host Jon Friedman.
“It works on two levels in that the show focuses more on show business and the rejection of writing, but on Valentine’s Day it’s all about the love side,” Friedman said.
The show typically features a whole range of comedic talent, from the up and coming, to “Saturday Night Live” sketch writers, to bona fide stars like Colin Quinn, but they’re all united by one common experience — rejection.
“There’s so many different reasons why they were rejected, but it usually boils down to two things; its either so bad that it’s funny, or it’s something really great that was overlooked,” said Friedman. “So, usually it’s either of those two extremes, and I find that anything in the middle is boring.”
But on Valentine’s Day, these funny guys will riff on that particular brand of rejection that’s universal to average, ugly, and uninteresting people everywhere.
“Comedians will share breakup letters, stories about online dating, and general stories about love and heartache,” said Friedman. “They’ll even share letters from junior high.”
Fortunately, it’s not all about the feeling of being rejected. Friedman promised to share some pickup lines from the experts on rejection — that are guaranteed to get you rejected too.
“Do you drive a Prius?” Friedman asked. “Because up until now we’ve been pre-us.”
“The Rejection Show” at Littlefield [622 Degraw St. between Third and Fourth avenues in Park Slope, (718) 855–3388, littlefieldnyc.com]. Feb. 14, 8 pm. $10.
Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.