Nonfiction Essay: Struggling to Love My Two Trump-Voting Dads (November, 2020)
BRAVO 25: Your A.I. Therapist Will See You Now
“Amusing, touching, and entertaining….Undeniable universal appeal.” - SF Examiner, 10/17/18
“A must-see.” “Intelligent, funny and fascinating.” - SF Theatre Blog, 9/28/18
"If you need to patch up your soul, or restore your faith in humanity, BRAVO 25: Your A.I. Therapist Will See You Now is just the right medicine"
BEST BET Frigid NY 2018- Theater is Easy, NY
WINNER The ENCORE! Producers' Award - Hollywood Fringe 2017
Amber the A.I. therapist is here. Broken hearts, addicts in recovery, a polyamorous lesbian awaits the arrival of Superintelligence, a grieving savant who likes donuts.... Wait. Someone needs a piece of somebody’s liver? Maybe it's time to return to our breath.
In BRAVO 25, winner of the ENCORE! Producers' Award 2017 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, and named "Best Bet" by Theatre is Easy, NY in February 2018, queer artist Eliza Gibson draws on her real-life experience as a social worker and therapist to bring to life an A.I. avatar and six humans in a support group unlike any you've ever seen!
The show premiered at the Rogue Festival in Fresno in March 2017, and was produced by Beyond Words at Stage Werx Theatre in April 2017, had an extended run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in July 2017 and a run at FRIGID New York in February 2018. An excerpt was selected to compete in SF's PianoFight’s ShortLived competition in February 2016, and in January 2018, the show was selected for a Marsh Rising performance at The Marsh in San Francisco and subsequently booked for a run September - October 2018. Like Eliza's solo show, And Now, No Flip Flops?!, BRAVO 25 is directed by David Ford.
Praise for BRAVO 25
"Gibson is phenomenal.... this hilarious and touching solo show has a therapeutic effect itself, maybe because of Gibson's background as a clinical social worker." - Asya Danilova, Theater is Easy
"Whether embodying a human or an avatar, a woman or a man, Gibson effortlessly fills the stage with her presence, adeptly generating pathos and comedy through impressively distinct characters." - Leah Richards & John Ziegler, Culture Catch
"A sure bet for those looking for something futuristic....yet, believable." - Kristin Hardwick, Hi! Drama
"Wonderfully entertaining & thought-provoking. Eliza Gibson is a talent not to be missed. Best one person show I've ever seen." - Todd Valcourt, Hollywood Fringe Festival
"Funny and deep and unique. I was spellbound by Eliza's performance." - Julie, Rogue Festival
"What a truly unique show!" - Tonya Jones, Hollywood Fringe Festival
"Super show! Loved all Eliza's characters...each character was superbly defined and imaginable. I would see this show again!" - Tommie Martinez, Rogue Festival
"A dynamic & hilarious performance." - Jeff, Rogue Festival
"Bravo 25 is rich with messages and humor about life - which isn't fair, but every day we keep trying. I laughed like crazy!!!!' - Linda, Rogue Festival
"...unique and entertaining. Eliza's performance is very complex and upbeat and has woven within it many life lessons. It's a must see! - Laura, Rogue Festival
Watch the trailer
for And Now, No Flip Flops?!
Directed by David Ford, And Now, No Flip Flops?! premiered at The Rogue Festival in Fresno in February, 2015. The SF premiere was in July 2015 at the SF LGBT Community Center. Other performances have included festivals in NYC and Providence, RI.
Praise for And Now, No Flip Flops?!
“Eliza Gibson brings a crisp, smooth energy to her well written and extremely well performed And Now, No Flip Flops?! …Gibson’s characters are well articulated and her stage presence is stellar.” – Donald Munro, Fresno Bee
“Eliza brings a fresh, spirited look at our most interesting topic: Ourselves! I’ve seen her show twice and it’s a delight! Funny, provocative, poignant, personal.”
– Arje Shaw, Broadway Playwright
"Mark of a good show? Laughter, tears, thunderous applause."
-Catherine Sonquist Forest, SF audience member
“Eliza’s a compelling performer in possession of a sharp wit. She handles a very delicate topic–the dissolution of a marriage–in an honest and, this really is true, entertaining fashion.”
– Bruce Pachtman, Producer, Solo Sundays
"Eliza's brilliantly performed story about life after lesbian divorce is ironic and timely. Her ability to physically become multiple characters is captivating. She shows us just how unbearable grief can be for all of us - queer, questioning, gay and straight - and that somehow, we all do make it to the other side."
- Sherilyn Adams, Executive Director, Larkin Street Youth Services
" Eliza gets to the core of the experience of grief and does it with a fresh, unscripted humor. We reach with her a place that is familiar to all of us – trapped. In one moment she yells, 'I just want something to change!' And then it does. We are astounded with her. "
- Susan Maxwell, SF Audience member
“As if losing one’s flip flops isn’t compelling (and humorous) enough, Eliza’s performance includes surviving a litany of life’s many other tragedies including a custody battle over a Rhodesian Ridgeback and the painful process of simply moving forward following heartbreak. Eliza deftly manages all of this with no shortage of humor throughout. I was hoping for an encore!”
– Matt Forsman, Rogue Festival audience member
About Eliza
Eliza Gibson is a queer artist, writer and solo performer based in Los Angeles. Trained as a classical pianist and a drummer, Eliza wrote and performed her first solo show –Dialogues with Madwomen – in 1995, after returning to the US from Yugoslavia, where she had been a humanitarian aid worker. She also wrote the narrative for Memories Do Not Burn, a documentary about war orphans and refugees featuring the voice of Sarah Jessica Parker. A clinical social worker, in 2008 Eliza led the start-up for Clinic by the Bay, a free health clinic for working uninsured adults, where she served as Executive Director until 2015. Eliza currently works at a health technology company, which may or may not have provided inspiration for BRAVO 25.