There are very few comedians left who can do what Billy Crystal can do.
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Crystal → be → what
Stand-ups who talk about the news tend to pick finger-pointing, strident activism or irony, like they’re auditioning for a spot on “The Daily Show.”
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they → talk → Show
But what the extraordinary Crystal manages in “860,” his latest one-man Broadway show that opened Wednesday night at the Imperial Theatre, is a feat.
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that → manage → Theatre
He takes the devastating 2025 Palisades fire in California, and the total destruction of his family’s cherished home that they lived in for 46 years, and makes it funny.
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it → take → years
He rightly treats the disaster with solemnity, stress and disbelief.
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He → treat → solemnity
Based on the freshness of the performance I saw, I reckon he hasn’t fully moved on from those difficult January days.
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he → base → days
Crystal could have written this show as therapy as much as for our entertainment.
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Crystal → write → entertainment
However, his memories contained on the photo-and-memorabilia-covered walls of his home office, which has been rebuilt onstage, are hysterical.
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which → contain → office
He takes the audience on a moving and breakneck tour — of his framed snapshots with celebrities, the door of his childhood bedroom in Long Beach, NY, he was given as a gift and of hilarious events like his fateful gig in upstate New York opening for the band “Blood, Sweat & Tears” when frontman David Clayton-Thomas refused to go on.
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Thomas → take → band
Those physical remnants of his life and long career are ash now, so what’s left are stories.
And the crowd is rapt for them all.
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crowd → leave → them
A friend said to me after, “I felt like I was at dinner with him.”
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I → say → him
He and director Scott Ellis turn the same barn that just hosted the musical “Chess” into an intimate get-together.
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that → turn → together
Between the appetizer and the main course, though, the situation gets painful.
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situation → get → appetizer
For a while, I grappled with the structure of “860,” which begins with Crystal and his wife Janice racing to their daughter’s house in 2025 as their imperiled neighborhood is evacuated before segueing into fabulous showbiz tales.
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neighborhood → grapple → tales
What does losing a home have to do with fond remembrances of Muhammad Ali, Robin Williams and Rob Reiner?
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losing → lose → Ali
In the 21 years since his last hit solo outing on Broadway, “700 Sundays,” those three dear friends have all died, two in truly horrible ways.
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friends → die → ways
Particularly when he begins to talk about Reiner, who was killed less than a year ago, and the off-camera fun of making “When Harry Met Sally,” we realize that not only does Crystal need to talk about these men publicly, but, like with 860 Chautauqua Blvd., he desperately needs to hold onto the good times.
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he → begin → times
That’s what the audience wants, too.
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audience → ’ → what
There are a few fleeting moments when Crystal goes off track.
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Crystal → be → track
He makes easy jabs at Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Kash Patel that, wherever you feel about those guys, feel out of place in an otherwise lovely and gentle show about friends and family.
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you → make → friends
And in the end, that’s what “860” focuses on.
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860 → ’ → what
The comedian recalls an early point in his career when a talent agent told him to talk more about himself to make his mark.
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agent → recall → mark
So, he wrote material about being a stay-at-home dad, and it worked.
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it → write → home
His 50th wedding anniversary was during COVID, so his kids and grandchildren turned his backyard into a restaurant and played waiters.
And, after the horrors of the abode burning down, there are tiny miracles.
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abode → turn → horrors
His World Series rings survived.
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rings → survive → ?
And so did a rock from his office with a useful word carved into it: “Laughter.”
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rock → do → it
Against all odds, Crystal is again bringing a lot of that to Broadway.
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Crystal → bring → Broadway
The Aporia
