Can I Be Frank? – 27 August 2025

Can I Be Frank? is Morgan Bassichis’s solo show dedicated to honoring the spirit of Frank Maya, a queer elder who came before them and presented their art in a similar way. Very little of the show had anything at all to do with Frank Maya, as Morgan spent a significant percentage of the show apologizing for not being Frank, telling self deprecating jokes, making odd comments that were vaguely antisemitic despite them being a Jew themself, sarcastically explaining queer culture, asking the audience to read them questions they had pre-written, acting nervous, and calling us to action the way we were called to action during the AIDS crisis. Though this last bit was both powerful and meaningful, it was too brief to make up for the flustered mess that came before it. Though Morgan had some funny one-liners, the general pattern of their comedy was to apologize for being on stage, apologize for not being on a more prestigious stage, and apologize for not doing Frank’s story justice (which took up a lot of valuable time in which they could have told Frank’s story and attempted to do it justice).

The ratio of time wasted to time well used can only be described as appalling. At least half of the show was Morgan’s pre-scripted starting and stopping the lighting and sound cues to “provide context”, which really meant take the bulk of the show to shove Frank Maya aside in order to sarcastically take up space mocking themself and their communities. It felt like Morgan did not want to be Frank. They were struggling to be themself. The extreme self deprecation felt like a cry for help from someone who is feeling insecure about being queer and Jewish, and the show felt like a plea for approval and acceptance more than a piece of performance art. In this way, one could argue that the show is intended to be more therapeutic— both for the performer and for the audience. Therein might lie the intended value of this experience.

Morgan’s ultimate argument was that they cannot succeed the way Frank Maya did because Morgan lives in an era with too many gay voices like theirs. Their brand of humor has become commonplace; thus they will never achieve fame and fortune. Personally, I don’t think this has anything to do with their performance style. It has everything to do with their writing. Morgan wrote their insecurities, and rattled them off, seemingly unedited, before an audience. They weren’t relevant to their topic, and the one-liners that made people laugh would have made for a genuinely funny show if Morgan had made space for them. They seemed to be using Frank Maya as a crutch to add content when what Morgan really wanted and needed was to do their own show and tell their own story. I’d like to tell them that they doesn’t have to be Frank— they can be themself. The comedy world might still embrace them. They should try for real, as themself. They can be Morgan.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Print Shop PR.