'Garry Starr: Classic Penguins' Off-Broadway review — baring it all in the name of books, and birds

Read our review of Garry Starr: Classic Penguins off Broadway, an 18+ comedy show written and performed by Damien Warren-Smith as his alter ego, Garry Starr.

Summary

• Garry Starr: Classic Penguins is a comedy show in which the title character performs Penguin Classics books to save both literature and penguins themselves
• Garry Starr is the clown persona of writer/performer Damien Warren-Smith
• The show involves heavy but voluntary audience participation
• The show is recommended for fans of classic literature; wacky comedy; and interactive theatre
• The show is permitted for ages 18+ due to full frontal nudity

What’s the most unbelievable thing you’ve ever seen in a theatre? After this weekend, I can confidently say it was during a performance of Garry Starr: Classic Penguins, in which the titular Garry Starr, almost fully nude, successfully convinced my audience to crowdsurf him all the way up to the top of the theatre’s cinema-style seating. This stunt was just one of many audience participation requests, and though it may have been the most unbelievable to witness, it certainly wasn’t the wildest ask of the show.

In Classic Penguins, Garry Starr — the clown persona of writer/performer Damien Warren-Smith — is on a mission to save literature. Books are on the verge of becoming extinct, as are penguins — from which, Garry proudly claims, he is partially descended. So what better way to raise awareness for both causes than to remind us of the great Penguin Classic Books? Armed with a bookshelf full of vintage paperbacks, Garry hurtles through the canon of Western literature with all the accuracy and bumbling charm of a penguin freefalling off an Antarctic cliff.

Garry’s book reenactments are as silly as silly can be. His version of The Grapes of Wrath, for one, is pretty literal: He invites an audience member to chuck actual grapes at him. But he’ll surprise you over and over again, always when you least expect it. One the best joke setups sees Garry pull a veiled mannequin head out of his box of props in the first half of the show, only to stuff it back in because it isn’t the right time yet. When he pulls out the head again in the second half and triumphantly displays a copy of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, the payoff is so long anticipated, and yet so out of nowhere, that it left my audience screaming with laughter.

Garry’s penguin ancestry manifests in his costume: a top hat, a black tailcoat, bright orange flippers, an Elizabethan ruff (because he’s well-read) and... nothing else. Garry is practically naked for the entire show. Garry seems to delight in shocking his audiences with how much more he’s willing to bare than we think possible.

But what’s even more shocking are his requests for participation. I wouldn’t necessarily say the nudity ever becomes an afterthought; just when you think you’ve gotten used to it, Garry will pull out a new trick that puts it right in your face again (sometimes literally, depending on where you’re sitting). But it’s easy to forget about it when Garry asks for a volunteer to let him feed them baby-bird style — and someone agrees. Or when Garry asks someone to do the “worst thing” (his words) they could imagine, with no further context — and someone agrees to that too.

Perhaps it’s a testament to Garry’s boyish charm and bright attitude, mixed with grandmotherly terms of endearment like “sausage” (though a jarring term it may be, given the circumstances). There’s something captivating about a person willing to be so vulnerable for the sake of comedy. Just when you think he has finally asked for something no one could possibly say yes to, someone in the audience plucks up the courage. Classic Penguins is some of the most original comedy on stage right now thanks to the trust Warren-Smith builds at each performance, all while Garry Starr lets it all hang out.

Garry Starr: Classic Penguins summary

Garry Starr is trying to save literacy and penguins. Surely if people understand the Penguin Classic books, the penguins and the books will both be saved from extinction. One by one, Garry takes audiences through a series of hallowed Penguin Classics, acting out the plots of literature’s greatest hits with varying degrees of accuracy.

Anyone who has taken a high school English class has likely encountered a Penguin Classic, whether one with the the orange-and-white vintage cover or the 21st-century black cover paired with book-specific artwork. Found in every school, used bookstore, and Little Free Library, these books are the inspiration for Garry Starr: Classic Penguins.

What to expect at Garry Starr: Classic Penguins

Stereotypically, Americans are considered to be less cool with nudity than our European (or Australian, like Warren-Smith) counterparts. Whether or not that's true, the fact of the matter is this: If watching a naked man on stage for 70 minutes would be wildly offensive or tasteless to you, this is not your show. The circumstance of Warren-Smith’s nudity — and the positions he puts himself in — may induce raucous laughter and disbelieving hands clapped over mouths. But there’s nothing inherently lewd about Warren-Smith’s performance; it's pure physical comedy by a man more comfortable with his body than most of us can dream of. Due to the nudity, however, Classic Penguins is strictly for ages 18 and up.

Though the show is all about Penguin Classics, you don’t need to be well-read to enjoy the show. That’s what Garry’s there for, after all: to save literature by teaching it. Some of the titles he whips out are books commonly read in high school English classes, or, as Garry points out, various movies starring Jacob Elordi. Others are lesser-known, and the title is the whole joke. I couldn’t tell you what Robert Drewe’s The Bodysurfers is about before or after Classic Penguins, because Garry’s reenactment of that plot was to crowdsurf through the audience.

Audience participation can be intimidating, and in this show more than any other. My +1 admitted that they spent the whole show afraid of being asked to do anything. Charismatic as he may be, Garry’s asks are daunting, as is the prospect of having to turn him down. But all audience participation is completely voluntary. For those who don’t want to be in the line of fire, avoid the first few rows and aisle seats.

What audiences are saying about Garry Starr: Classic Penguins

Audiences are flipping for Garry Starr, with an 88% audience rating and almost entirely positive audience reviews for Classic Penguins on the online aggregator Show-Score, averaged from 31 reviews.

• “You cannot prepare for what you’ll see. Get ready to laugh and scream.” - Show-Score user Joseph T
• “Garry is amazingly talented in communication with people. He is so open and full of energy” - Show-Score user Jay S
• “It can be surprising, hilarious, tasteless, disgusting, and entertaining, all at the same time. If you’re prudish and easily offended, it’s probably not for you.” - Show-Score user Stephen 18
• “An outrageous yet heart-centered show. One of the top 5 shows I’ve seen in a decade.” - Show-Score user Richard M

Read more audience reviews of Garry Starr: Classic Penguins on Show-Score.

Who should see Garry Starr: Classic Penguins

• If you love irreverent theatre, it’s hard to get more irreverent than Classic Penguins. Full-frontal nudity notwithstanding, Garry Starr’s interpretations of literary classics range from silly to confusing to downright shocking.
• If you follow shows that begin at Scotland's prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this is your chance to catch one of the shows from the 2026 lineup, fresh from great reviews across the pond.
• Theatregoers who love audience participation will get plenty of opportunities to be part of Garry Starr: Classic Penguins, should they have the stomach for it.

Learn more about Garry Starr: Classic Penguins off Broadway

Classic Penguins is one of the most memorable comedy shows off Broadway this year. As Garry Starr, Damien Warren-Smith takes the ubiquitous presence of the Penguin Classic books we grew up reading in school and lampoons them all with expert physical comedy and a script that is constantly taking its audience by surprise.

Learn more and get Garry Starr: Classic Penguins tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Garry Starr: Classic Penguins is at Studio Seaview through October 4.

Photo credit: Garry Starr: Classic Penguins off Broadway. (Photos by Austin Ruffer)