A compelling, delightfully absurd storytelling show between queer sci-fi, stand-up, philosophy, and tentative intimacy.
J.O.I. (acronym for Jerk Off Instruction) is Christopher Lieberman’s new storytelling solo-show, blending sci-fi narrative and stand-up, a part of the Bitesize Festival at Riverside Studios, London. It’s a stripped back presentation, with Lieberman alone on the River Room slightly raised stage, backed by its library-lite aesthetic and pseudo-cabaret seating.
After a recording of a J.O.I. from Alien Daddy, voiced by Mx. Ruby Wednesday, asking us “are you alone?”, the piece begins conversationally. Lieberman speaks to the audience, ostensibly as himself, reflecting on the show before gently slipping into the narrative. This naturalistic framing leads us into an increasingly unreal story that remains credibly grounded.
Lieberman’s character is looking for a way to pay for his gender-affirming surgery and finds a canny solution: joining a medical trial at a university. The only issue is that he doesn’t have the necessary sperm the study requires, so he turns to Grindr to partner with Simon. They wank together, planning to split the £2000 promised. In the process of growing closer, Simon introduces him to Alien Daddy, a space-themed example of J.O.I. that puts them both in a euphoric, hallucinatory state, allowing Lieberman’s character a deeper relationship with his penis through experiences of phantom limb and layered realities. This is truly just the starting premise of a completely wild ride.
The performance offers the kind of observations on life you get from a deeply considered novel, revealing Lieberman’s unique and specific way of seeing the world. The world building is immensely rich and detailed, close to our own yet increasingly strange. There is a porous relationship between character and performer that draws the audience in, holding delicious tension with the more outlandish elements of sci-fi and body horror. The show builds into increasingly bizarre happenings vividly rendered, involving aliens, reflections on queer hook up culture and scientific research, with philosophical observations that are beautifully and poetically wrought. Lieberman offers specifics in his expressive language that are deeply satisfying.
The comedy is interspersed throughout and always grounded in character. The increasing absurdity is original and entrancing, though some jumps in narrative are harder than others. These are mostly covered by the humour and confidence of the performer’s delivery, and an already charmed audience. However, a few leaps in the latter half felt sudden, relying on telling rather than the more carefully rendered showing characteristic of earlier sections. There are beats in the character’s journey that could have been earned rather than given over to the zaniness and convenience of the world. Lieberman’s commitment and deadpan wit do hold these moments when the absurdity escalates, and the style of the piece somewhat accounts for these shifts, but as the story is so strong, these moments of disconnect feel like a shame.
The narrator is delightfully unreliable (probably?), yet remains our way into this detailed, strange world. That is the joy and success of the piece. It also never over-labours emotional affect of the story, letting its audience sit with its complexity rather than telling us what to feel – and so I did feel. It is whimsical, with layers of storytelling that explore intimacy and distance, what you imagine, what could be, and deeper questions of existence. Lines such as “I wished I had told him I loved him when it was still true” stand out for their emotional honesty, and the sweetness and truth of Lieberman’s character yearning to be close to Simon, without the ability to know how, is incredibly poignant and real.
Overall, I really enjoyed this show. I found it deeply engaging and felt it respected and valued its audience. It is stripped-back, compelling storytelling with strong concepts and a beating heart. Lieberman is a wonderful performer to spend time with, confidently handling the layers of interwoven narrative and themes as a writer. The piece shows how interesting sci-fi can work with the audience’s imagination to distinctly create worlds on stage.