In ‘This Hurricane Blows,’ Celia Rivenbark looks to Florence for laughs
The destructive, marathon storm hit
Mining our collective storm stories for laughs is the goal of the play "This Hurricane Blows: A Cat 5 Comedy" by
For Rivenbark, the longtime humor columnist, book author and
Invited back to pen another comedy for 2019, the writing duo soon settled on Hurricane Florence as fodder. January might've been "too soon" to stage the show, Rivenbark and Parker acknowledged during an interview on her
"Hurricanes are not funny," Parker said. "Hurricanes are horrible."
And he would know, as his home in North Chase in northern
"This Hurricane Blows" focuses on two families, one longtime Southerners, the other new transplants from the North, forced to ride out the storm together. At one point, the Southern family asks the Northern group if they're prepared.
"We're ready," the Yankees say, holding up a flashlight.
Jokes are also made about locals viewing Category 1 hurricanes, which
Despite differences between the families, including their divergent views on
Luckily, TheatreNOW chef
Rivenbark and Parker's writing partnership has deepened since "Southern Fried Bitch," which was written by Rivenbark "with" Parker. This year's byline pointedly reads "by Celia Rivenbark AND
For the record, Parker said he's fine with being "with." When they were at the theater for performances last year, he said, people would come up to Rivenbark asking her to sign books and other things.
"They'd come up to me asking for a refill," Parker quipped.
But Parker was an even bigger part of writing "Hurricane" than he was of "Southern Fried," Rivenbark said, hence the "and" instead of the "with." (In a short video that will air before the show, Rivenbark and Parker infuse their partnership with a fake but very funny rivalry.)
The show also features three original songs by
Rivenbark isn't one to turn serious on you, at least not for very long. But she did relate one poignant post-storm story.
A few days after
"I've only seen her two or three times since then because she lives a couple of streets over," Rivenbark said. "But now we'll always have that connection."
"This Hurricane Blows," she continued, isn't meant to mock what people have been through. Rather, "If you can laugh at something you can survive it," she said. "Humor restores the power. We reclaim power over things by laughing at them."
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