'All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich' review — starry new play goes partway

Read our review of All In on Broadway, a new humor play currently starring John Mulaney, Fred Armisen, Richard Kind, and Renée Elise Goldsberry.

Caroline Cao
Caroline Cao

Have you ever seen a well-dressed concept that still needs accessorizing? That is All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich, a short story compilation by the titular New Yorker humorist and Saturday Night Live writer at Broadway's Hudson Theatre.

The Alex Timbers-directed All In beams with megawatt stars, who will switch out with different cast members across its run. I saw the current and first batch: John Mulaney, Fred Armisen, Richard Kind, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, each playing various roles. What if I report that they’re seated in armchairs for 95% of the show while glancing at binders? To be clear, theatricality can be spun out of minimal blocking as the actors gesture and emote from their seats, but All In remains limited as a conceptual presentation rather than a fully realized theatrical event.

It’s anything but a stagnant affair, at least. As the stars pantoimine and read, their voices inhabit colorful characters. Some beats may land as treacly, but the stories contain plenty of zippy lines and outlandish, cartoon-inspired shenanigans. A short story that grabs hearty laughs is one where a talent agent (Kind) persuades the Grim Reaper (Armisen) to try acting. Projected images illustrated by Emily Flake add additional humorous imagination to the show.

When the show concluded with exit music, the audience was slipping out their seats — and several were already out the door — when Armisen reappeared as a guitar-playing character, rounding out an earlier joke. The sight gag is such a silly cap-off to this night that I wished for more. Rich’s material has yet to go all the way.

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All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich summary

Simon Rich’s playwright’s note is read by an actor (John Mulaney at my performance) to note that the play contains absurdist vignettes related to love. Mulaney opens the show with a parable about a bar genie with apparent hearing issues that results in incorrectly executed wishes. Other stories are about a pirate captain (Mulaney) and first mate (Armisen) becoming an adoptive parent to an orphan (Goldsberry), and a Rugrats-inspired noir where a toddler (Mulaney) plays private detective investigating Goldsberry's stolen stuffed unicorn.

What to expect at All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich

Between the stories are folksy transition songs by Stephin Merritt, as performed by the Bengsons, and they are are some of the shows’ pleasures. Additionally, Lucy Mackinnon's video design illuminates images by New Yorker cartoonist Flake — an unsurprising complement to the show, as Rich has credits in writing for animation.

The show deploys some smoke effects and comedic lighting flashes.

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What audiences are saying about All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich

Show-Score currently has 11 member reviews that average out into an audience approval rating of 71%.

  • "Some amusing and sweet stories with varying connections to the concept of love. It has some funny moments and it's all very cute," Show-Score User GreatAvi wrote while questioning its limited staging.
  • Show-Score user @Chelsea24 called the show "mostly hilarious and clever."
  • "I'd have liked this as a podcast or something on Audible." - Show-Score user Jonathan 3248
  • "Not really a play, but a staged reading with very fine comedic talent." - Show-Score user Member 70406445

Read more audience reviews of All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich on Show-Score.

Who should see All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich

  • The playwright’s note recommends All In as a date-night show.
  • Fans of well-known comedians like John Mulaney, Richard Kind, or Fred Armisen would like to see them contribute their charms.
  • Any Renée Elise Goldsberry performance is unmissable for Hamilton and/or Rent fans.
  • Theatregoers attending later in the run or making repeat visits might like to experience future casts that include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Aidy Bryant, Annaleigh Ashford, Hank Azaria, Jimmy Fallon, Andrew Rannells, and more.
  • Those who enjoyed last season's Gutenberg! The Musical! on Broadway would appreciate the aesthetic of All In, with Alex Timbers’s direction and David Korins’s scenic design.

Learn more about All In: A Comedy About Love on Broadway

It takes a starry cast to breathe life into the zany stories of All In, currently hampered as an armchair-seated concept rather than a fleshed-out show.

Learn more and get All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich tickets on New York Theatre Guide. All In is at the Hudson Theatre through February 16.

Photo credit: All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich on Broadway. (Photos by Emilio Madrid)

Originally published on

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