Inspired by a book of letters and stories left to him by his late father, titled ‘For Jacob’, Stop Trying To Look At My D**k! is an autobiographical dark comedy of Jacob Grunberger’s adolescence. Through anecdotes and rap music, Jacob tells the story of the sudden death of his Jewish father when he was a child and a peripatetic childhood through Scotland and Essex as he and his mother struggled to keep afloat. Exploring challenges and encounters with drugs and mental darkness as an adult student, Jacob discusses how conversations around his father’s death have always taken place in a context that he hasn’t designed. As a reflection of life, Jacob creates a space to honor his father and his experience of grief, identity, and vulnerability.
Stop Trying to Look at My D**k is at the Canal Café Theatre from 13th May – 1st June. For more info and tickets go to https://canalcafetheatre.com/our-shows/dk/
Hey Jacob! Can you tell us a bit about you and your work as an actor and writer?
Of course, so my name is Jacob Grunberger I’m 24 years old and I was born and raised in London. I have been acting since I was about seven, I used to do Stagecoach, Sylvia Young and all sorts of theatre camps growing up. Then as I got older I did National Youth Theatre and the more and more performing I did I realised I really want to do this for the rest of my life.
Writing for theatre is something I found later on, I had previously shrugged off any interest in writing for some reason even though I always enjoyed devising and writing raps but I hadn’t made the connection. It wasn’t until I started Mountview for our creative project we could write and perform anything we wanted I decided to give writing a go and realised that I really enjoyed it and that’s where this piece comes from.
Tell us about the title of the show, what does it mean and why you have you chosen to title your play Stop Trying To Look At My D**k!?
Ah yes the title, bring your grandma! But no the title is a metaphor for being vulnerable and about being feeling exposed in front of an audience. I won’t give too much away because it is an important part of the piece but it comes up as a recurring theme. If you do want to find out more about the title though you should definitely grab yourself and your gran a ticket.
In discussing the conversations surrounding your father’s death, you mention they often take place in a context you haven’t designed. Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?
Yeah sure, my dad died when I was very young, I was only four years old turning five. This obviously means that my memories of him are pretty limited. This creates a strange dynamic where people who have had even brief encounters with him are more qualified to talk about him than I am, even though nobody has felt his absence more than I have. When people have these conversations about him I feel like my contribution is an ad-lib while others are doing double disc albums about my own grief, that’s what I mean about creating my own context to talk about him.
Your play creates a space to honour your father’s memory. How do you balance the personal nature of this tribute?
The piece is incredibly personal of course but there are several universal themes that I believe it explores. Grief is something we all experience and have to navigate, this performance is my way of navigating it twenty years on.
Tell us about the inclusion of hip-hop music in the show, what does this look like?
As I said before my first experience with writing was writing raps. I grew up listening to hip hop and going to see my favourite artists when they were in the UK, I mostly listen to American stuff but a lot of the rap that I perform in this show is inspired by British artists- Mike Skinner, being the main one. I wanted to pay homage to the UK and my favourite parts of the gritty British sound.
What’s your favourite rap artist or song?
That’s impossible, there are too many songs and artists that I love but I will tell you the song that I listen to before I go on stage and its ‘Dreams and Nightmares’ by Meek Mill, I am not a ritualistic guy particularly but that’s become one of the few that I have.
What do you hope audiences take away from experiencing your play?
That you don’t have to put on a show, for anyone.