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<p>« The Honey Shot | Main| The Honey Shot » Thursday Aug 06 2009  Sara Benincasa's AGORAFABULOUS! @ The PIT - 8.1.9 - By: Binu Paulose</p>
<p>Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 7:00AM</p>
<p>Sara Benincasa performs AGORAFABULOUS! at the Salvage Vanguard Theater in Austin, Texas | Photo: Joe Bolden</p>

<p>For many critics, "quirky" is a word commonly used to describe Sara Benincasa's comedy style. And why not? The 28-year-old Jersey girl rode her own Tina Fey-style wave of popularity last year, concocting the most whipsmart, but cracked-out version of Gov. Sarah Palin "over there on the YouTubes," as she was wont to say between soul possessions.</p>

<p>While there's plenty of "quirky" in Benincasa's hilarious one-woman show "AGORAFABULOUS!," there's also candidness, something audiences may not expect. Part enlightening and eccentric, yet all wonderfully vivid and engrossing, Benincasa's show finds her recounting her struggles with agoraphobia, which is quaintly defined as "the abnormal fear of being helpless in an embarrassing or inescapable situation, characterized especially by the avoidance of open or public places."</p>

<p>Photo: Joe Bolden</p>

<p>Benincasa describes her upbringing in Jersey's land of strip malls. She watches the stores shut down and draws a comparison between the closings and the Academy Awards' annual "In Memoriam" slideshow. "The Tower Records is the Heath Ledger of the Oscar montage," she explains. Next, Benincasa talks about her awkward adolescence, growing up as the stereotypical nerd among the more popular teenage girls.</p>

<p>She aptly describes the characters around her at that time (the bitchy girl, the clueless guidance counselors), all of which provides the context for her first major panic attack, which occurred during a high school class trip to Sicily, also known as "the Alabama of Italy," Benincasa snipes. Sweating, pupils dilating and chest tightening, she is taken to an Italian emergency room where she finds one lucid thought worth repeating: "I'm gonna die." She then describes the woman who saved her life, a Fellini-esque, young, buxom, Italian doctor ("Dr. Sophia Loren!"). The viewer envisions Claudia Cardinale from "8 1/2" as Sara shows her trotting away.</p>

<p>In perhaps the more memorable and disturbing of her accounts, Benincasa recalls the times at Emerson College when the panic attacks prohibited her from showing up to work at a hair salon. Then she started missing dates with boyfriends, classes and finally she sealed herself in her dorm room. Sara Benincasa's flair for pulling you in with her raw honesty, which she peppers with her idiosyncrasies, reminds us of the famous Dostoyevsky quote: "The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness." At its core, "AGORAFABULOUS!" is a display of Sara Benincasa's personal happiness, celebration and triumph, and one would be remiss to miss out on such a festive occasion.</p>

<p>--Binu Paulose is an improviser. His improv group Drivethru Baby performs at the Magnet Theater on SUN, AUG 23 @ 8PM.</p>

<p>THE PLUG</p>
<p>• AGORAFABULOUS! runs every Saturday in August @ 9:30PM at The PIT | Tickets</p>

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<p>Reader Comments (5)</p>
<p>Yay Sara! August 6, 2009 | Mo Diggs Go Sara! Hope Bierko doesn't rip this one off! August 7, 2009 | Billy Reno One of the best things about watching Sara perform is that "Candid" is her middle name. From the audience you feel like her best gal pal welcome to get in on the juicy gossip. I can't wait to catch this show and relate to it (the hot Italian doctor part). August 10, 2009 | Abbi Crutchfield And you should see her dildo collection! August 11, 2009 | Eliot yeaaaaah!!! great review for a great gal! yeaaaaah!!! great review for a great gal! August 16, 2009 | jenkwok Post a New Comment</p>
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