Review: “The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack”: Breaking, Heartache, and Pancakes

The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack

Written and performed by Ben Kassoy

Directed by Joanna Simmons

Presented at UNDER St Marks

94 St. Marks Place, Manhattan, NYC

March 6-7, 2025

Ben Kassoy. Photo credit: Richard Dean.
Ben Kassoy is mesmerizing in the award-winning The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack, a genre-defying hybrid of poetry, dance, and physical performance that explores the complexities of living with panic attacks.

Based on Kassoy’s 2023 poetry collection of the same name, the show breathes new life into his evocative poems. These verses, composed during the early COVID lockdown period, capture the chaos and complexity of experiencing a panic attack. On stage, the poems are brought powerfully to life by Kassoy’s magnetic presence and emotional depth, inviting the audience to connect not only with his words but also with the experience of panic itself.

Kassoy’s varied verse, breaking, and flawless execution of a “Dougie” make it clear that there is something here for everyone to connect to. In moments of uncertainty, doubt, or need, we all search for ways to move forward, to live with our ghosts, and Kassoy invites us to take this journey with him.

From the moment Kassoy steps onto the stage, he creates an immediate connection with the audience, bridging the neurodivergent gap with empathy and humor. This inclusivity is established right away when Kassoy breaks the fourth wall, telling the audience, “You can laugh if you want. Yeah, it’s poetry. Can we laugh? You can. Please do. Thank you. Thank you. I hear you stifling the laugh—let it out! This one is called The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack.” And though there will be moments that bring tears, there will also undoubtedly be laughter. Who knew that we could laugh at poetry, dance, and even something as deadly serious as a panic attack?
Ben Kassoy. Photo credit: Richard Dean.
With the show's genre-bending fusion of poetry and dance, choreography plays a vital role in the performance. Julio Medina (choreographer) deserves particular praise for masterful work. Kassoy’s movements are sometimes fluid and hypnotic, a respite, and at other times abrupt and jarring —much like the experience of a panic attack itself. His own arms become the twisted torture tools of his panic, a physical representation of the inner turmoil he describes, or at times does not describe but dances. These movements are perfectly paired with Matt Lipkins’ music and sound design, which features his original work along with more playful touches, like a Mamma Mia ringtone bookending the performance. The lighting design, too, enhances the experience, shifting from soft, welcoming tones to harsh red lights that seem to underscore the rapid, unpredictable nature of these attacks.

What makes the performance truly stand out is the subtle blurring of lines between what is staged and what might be a genuine panic attack. The audience is genuinely unsure how to diagnose Kassoy’s drops to the floor or a seemingly real set list taped to the floor. This is especially true when Kassoy breaks down mid-poem, looking genuinely haunted, and has to abort said poem mid-verse. The performance is shot through with this intensity and ambiguity, lending an unsettled air to the show. This is no mere simulacrum of a panic attack; it is an epic and joyful and dancy and terrifying exploration of what it means to learn to live with and maybe even thrive with one’s personal and familial traumas.

-Noah Simon Jampol

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