Now Playing @ The Temple for Performing Arts

"A salute to the Baby Boomer Generation, The Wonder Bread Years is a fast-paced, hilarious production that gracefully walks the line between stand-up and theater. Audiences across the country are enjoying a show that not only restores a much-needed sense of wonder, but leaves audiences laughing and savoring the past like never before."

If you're looking for a show that's going to have you laughing so hard your side hurts and you have tears in your eyes, this isn't the show for you. If your looking for a good way to spend 2 hours being entertained, while strolling down memory lane, then "The Wonder Bread Years" will do the trick.

It was apparent this show was for the baby boomers when I walked into the theatre and there were only a handful of people younger than my grandparents. And it was solidified when the star of our show (Pat Hazell, it's a one man show PS) made references to the manwhich jingle, clackers and wearing bread sacks; and while they went above my 22 year old head, the rest of the audience laughed knowingly.

BUT for the most part, the jokes were cross generational and I was able to laugh along, thinking of my own childhood experiences dealing with the kid who turned his eyelids inside out, recycled unisex halloween costumes, and dad's inability to babysit.

The description says the show gracefully walks the line between standup and theatre, but I would say it probably trips and falls more into the standup catagory. There's no real storyline, Hazell tended to follow the standup routine and skipped from topic to topic; ranging from childhood addictions to sugar to holidays. And he delivers it all in a conversational tone that made me feel like I was listening to someone tell a story, not watching a play.

What I enjoyed most about the show was it's ability to seemingly bring the audience together. Whether with his slideshows that featured ads from the 60's (well, I think it was the 60s.before my time anyway), the jokes that everyone got or just some comment he had. People knew what he was talking about, because they watched/played with or thought that exact same thing at some point in their life.

So overall, it was an enjoyable show. It wasn't best thing I've seen, but it wasn't the worst. I was entertained the whole time, laughed on ocassion and left happy.

So, if you're looking for something to do between now and March 21st and feel like taking a walk down memory lane, then I suggest taking a look at "The Wonder Bread Years."