Review: Melanie Johnson’s NOT SPECIAL Mixes Honesty with Humor at the Hollywood Fringe

For the generation that was raised by “helicopter parents” and given unsolicited participation trophies throughout their childhood, it’s not surprising that millennials now feel that they were lied to. With a nearly impossible to navigate housing market, lopsided economy, and a burning planet, it’s inevitable that millennials are at a crossroads as they enter their 30s and 40s after hearing they were “special” from their elders since an early age. Actor/writer Melanie Johnson captures this sense of dread and betrayal in her one-woman show “Not Special”, which premiered earlier this month at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Johnson chronicles her journey moving to Los Angeles and endeavors at breaking into Hollywood as a performer with brutal honesty and genuine heart. The fact she does it solo, with only a disembodied voice and puppet of herself to play off is as impressive as it is entertaining. She commands the stage for a tight but jam-packed fifty minutes. Directed by Lisa Schurga, the themes within “Not Special” are immediate and universal. Mainly, the show asks how does one navigate rejection, self-doubt, and societal pressure when chasing their dreams? And when is it time to give up the ghost? Johnson brings these existential questions to life with hilarity and vulnerability. She reenacts nonsensical commercial auditions and soul-sucking anecdotes from “survival jobs” all artists must endure as they pursue their careers.

One of the most memorable and hilarious vignettes from “Not Special” includes Johnson receiving advice from “psychic” at her restaurant job. When she’s rejected from the Sunday Company at the Groundling’s, a prestigious comedy troupe that’s known as a feeder for “Saturday Night Live“, she calls said psychic in a moment of weakness for comfort. Unfortunately, said psychic doesn’t provide the the encouragement Johnson’s seeking.  He’s mid fast food-order when she call, and Johnson hears him giving the cashier the same spiel he gave her. It’s as uproarious as it heart-wrenching, and it’s that push and pull that makes “Not Special” so riveting and relatable.

See “Not Special” During the Hollywood Fringe Festival

Johnson is commendably open and raw as she reckons with the fact she may in fact be “not special”. Her honesty forces the audience to reflect on their own sense of “specialness”. And while she could leave the crowd in the throes of an existential conundrum, Johnson deftly comes to an enlightening and profound realization by the performance’s end: being not special,doesn’t mean one isn’t enough or worthy of love. It’s a satisfying conclusion to the rollercoaster ride of tragicomedy the performer has taken her viewers on for better part of the last hours, and in doing so, perhaps proves that Johnson is indeed special and a performer to watch after all.

Melanie’s final performance of Not Special at the Hollywood Fringe Festival will take place on Sunday, June 30th at 3:30 PM. Purchase your tickets HERE.