“Couples Therapy” mixes comedy, advice
By Andy Gray, Tribune Chronicle/The Vindicator
February 3, 2022
Jason Tarr got his start as a standup comedian on local stages.
He’ll make his debut as a playwright and stage director here as well.
Tarr, who lives in Poland, will direct the premiere of his show “Couples Therapy” for one performance at Youngstown Playhouse on Feb. 12.
The idea for the show evolved out of that stand up act, which started at the old Funny Farm Comedy Club at the Holiday Inn Metroplex in Liberty in 1992 after a dare from his friends at an amateur night.
“My three minutes didn’t go quite that well,” Tarr said, but club owner Dave Robich was encouraging. “I spent almost every weekend at the club. I’d show up, hang out, meet comics, talk to Dave.”
Tarr became a regular opening act for Robich, not only at the Funny Farm, but when he brought in bigger acts.
“I opened for Carrot Top at Stambaugh,” Tarr said. “Jeff Dunham and I became good friends.”
He used some of the connections he made locally to pursue standup comedy in southern California, did a pilot for Paramount and worked as a touring comedian. He liked working with a live audience; he was less enamored with spending all day on a film or television set.
“My material at that point was pretty heavily driven by relationships,” Tarr said, and “Couples Therapy” was born as a way to merge his love of live performance with a show that had more of a narrative arc than a standup comedy routine.
For its premiere, local stage veterans John Cox and Brandy Johanntges will play married therapists conducting a seminar. The characters were high school sweethearts and both children of divorced parents who reconnect years later at a medical conference.
“They both chose family relations degrees in psychology because they had a burning desire to help others not go through what they went through,” Tarr said.
Tarr said there is plenty of humor in the show, but the relationship advice it offers is rooted in science and psychology. He sees the show as a way to entertain as well as reach those who might not pursue traditional forms of advice.
“Books aren’t working. The men aren’t going to read them,” he said. “Instead of a traditional seminar, I came up with the idea of a comedy seminar, a fun, entertaining evening, but also learn something as well.”
Tarr has been honing the show for about 15 years, and he and his wife returned to the Mahoning Valley about 11 years ago to raise their family
“It’s been a long time coming,” Tarr said. “When I set out to do this, I didn’t realize how hard it is to be a writer. I had to write as a standup, but this is a thousand times tougher. With standup, there’s no framework, you can change topics on a dime, no one cares. This involved framing a story, developing characters. It took me years to really do it.”
A couple of attempts to do the show in Canton and Cleveland fell through. Tarr connected with Cox, who is president of the Youngstown Playhouse board, but plans to do it at the Playhouse last year were derailed by COVID-19.
In addition to learning the script, Cox and Johanntges also have to improvise, handling questions submitted from the audience.
“We’re going to do a couple dry runs for friends and spouses and I’ve tried to prepare them with some stock answers,” Tarr said. “There’s only so many responses. Having done this a lot in standup, you can pretty much prepare for what they’re going to hear, but in the end you never know.”
If you go …
WHAT: “Couples Therapy”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 with cocktail hour at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Youngstown Playhouse, 600 Playhouse Lane, Youngstown
HOW MUCH: $30. Tickets are available online at youngstownplayhouse.org/couples-therapy and by calling the box office at 330-788-8739.