Broadway Reviews Theatre Review by Howard Miller - August 18, 2025 Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for a Ride by Jeff Ross. Directed by Stephen Kessler. Scenic design by Beowulf Boritt. Costume design by Toni-Leslie Jones. Lighting design by Adam Honoré. Sound design by Daniel Lundberg. Projection design by Stefania Bulbarella. Original music and music direction by Asher Denburg. Additional violin arrangements by Felix Herbst. Dramaturg Seth Barrish. Creative consultant Jeff Calhoun.
The first thing you are likely to notice when you take your seat is Beowulf Boritt's set design. First of all, there are the video screens, 24 of them in varying shapes and sizes. There's also a round Victorian end table that abuts a chaise longue, and, unexpectedly, a piano that sits to one side. It's all rather like a knockoff of the recent Broadway production of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Hard to know what to expect. And then in strides Jeff Ross himself, a bald husky man looking rather like an aging prizefighter (or, as he describes himself, like "Voldemort's attorney"). He is wearing a suit that is the color of Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard, or perhaps a bruised banana, which he wears over a tee shirt bearing the image of Gilbert Gottfried. He introduces himself to the audience by telling a story about how he once visited a dying friend who was in hospice care. "I went and sat with him for a couple of hours, and we talked about life. I held his arm and said, "Donald, I'm no longer comfortable with you as my emergency contact." As with any comic, timing and delivery are essential, and neither can truly be captured in a review of his act, yet this should give you an idea of what to expect during the 90-minute performance, which lies somewhere between scattershot stand-up show and a polished storytelling evening with someone like Mike Birbiglia. During the course of the show, the video screens are put to good use as images of Ross's family and friends appear to illustrate his stories about them. Over time, amidst the one-liners, there emerges a portrait, not of Dorian Gray, but of a man who learned to use humor to get through the vicissitudes of life, including the loss of both parents while he was still in his teens (his mother from cancer; his father from drugs). We learn a lot of what it was like for Ross growing up in Newark, New Jersey, and of his big complicated Jewish family. "My real last name is Lifschultz," he tells us. "That's an old Hebrew word. It means, 'Hey, you ought to change that.'" And so it goes, snap, crackle and pop, a wonderful mix of autobiographical storytelling and wisecracks. And (remember the piano?), it all comes with musical accompaniment provided by Asher Denburg on the piano and Felix Herbst on the violin. Occasionally, Ross breaks out in something akin to singing, about which the less said the better. Toward the end, Ross takes a walk around the audience, stopping here and there to kibitz and hand out bananas before retaking the stage and introducing a special last-minute guest. There's a story to go with that as well, but that can wait until you check out Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride for yourself. Turns out, the guy is both funny and a real mensch, a combo that's hard to beat.
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