The Penny Pibbits Show

It took me about two minutes to fall in love with twisted, foul-mouthed talk show host Penny Pibbets (Shannan Calcut), even though I suspect she could be the love child of Pee Wee Herman and Carol Burnett. In "The Penny Pibbits Show," Calcut more than lives up to her reputation as a proven international comedic performer and writer employing a variety of the elements of comedy in her one-woman talk show.

She began the show by introducing herself as talk show host Penny Pibbets over a karaoke machine microphone that sounded like a bad drive-thru speaker. Then she re-entered reminiscent of Herman bouncing off the walls with zany exuberance like she was in her living room. Penny disappears again to ride in triumphantly on her "piece of shit" rhinestone unicorn bicycle that she informs the audience she purchased by meeting a Kickstarter goal of $23,000.

Calcut's character vacillates fluidly between something of a twisted child performing for her parents in the family room and a parody of a talk show host with a touch of burlesque for good measure. Calcut's comedic influences are many and are evident throughout. There is even a hint of Lucille Ball in Calcut's absurd commercial/advice to women segment.

The opening theme song reminded me of the theme song to the "Gary Shandling Show." Penny lists her topics for the show: life, current events, a monologue, interviews and advice from the inimitable Penny Pibbets. "Life is hard." Pibbets opines. So laughter is the prescription.

Penny is not afraid to dive right into the controversial with an opening current events segment that features a Las Vegas Review Journal story of the shooting deaths of two N.Y. police officers. There are a couple of groans and a little uneasiness on the part of a few audience members. However, Calcut does not rely on political or racial humor although her initial jokes hit upon those subjects. Not every bit lands successfully but Calcut moves right on to the next bit with grace and comedic aplomb.

Penny segues from a list of tips for murders to a list of people who should be killed in 2015. It is a torrent of consistent laughter from that point. Penny playfully insults the audience and makes hilariously flirtations with audience members. She's not afraid to make the audience feel just a little bit uncomfortable but she always asks consent.

Throughout the show audience members are pulled on stage. Some remain throughout the show and are props and fodder for Penny. Although there is a script there is plenty of improvisation as well, so you will see an authentic, evolving show every time.

Penny's co-host is her dog, Charlie. Charlie is allowed to roam the audience throughout the show. He is very friendly. When Penny wants to retrieve him she tells the audience to "just throw him." Of course, she is just kidding. Penny's guests include the pizza man and various audience members. Besides asking audience members absurd questions, she also enlists them as her talk show band on the drums and the keyboard.

There is also a craft segment where Penny and an audience member make sock puppets and perform with them. Penny manages to make contact with almost every audience member in attendance during the show. Talk show host and audience behaviors reminiscent of talk shows from Oprah to Jerry Springer are elicited by Penny.

The events that took place to bring the show to the stage are a comedy themselves. After parting ways with Absinthe as Gazillionaire's assistant, Calcut started up a Kickstarter campaign originally seeking $19,900 to enable her to build a set and provide coffee and donuts after the premiere. Exceeding her goal enabled her to purchase the aforementioned bike.

Her fundraising efforts were successful garnering support from Neil Patrick Harris and Holly Madison among others. Calcut offered a variety of gifts for donors including a date with Penny Pibbets for just $5,000, a small price to pay for a once in a lifetime experience. But if you can't afford that, just see the show.

"The Penny Pibbets Show," runs through Jan. 6, 2015 at the Art Square Theatre, 1025 S. First Street, Las Vegas, NV. For information and tickets, visitwww.ArtSquareTheatreLV.com or www.PennyPibbets.com.