Robert Post
Performer, Writer, Director, Filmmaker
One of Robert Post’s childhood report cards in Columbus, Ohio, gave a hint as to how his future might unfold. Not amused by Robert’s antics, his teacher created a whole new column of categories describing maladaptive behavior. Happily for audiences around the world, Post stuck with antics. The result: a dazzling performance career that continues to defy categories.
The creator of Post Comedy Theatre, How to Survive Middle School, and his documentary My Pathetic Career, discovered the joys of the stage at Ohio State University, where he studied theater and dance before hitting the road with a touring mime and improv troupe. The experience of traveling up and down the East Coast in an old milk truck that served as a tour bus, performing everywhere and anywhere, and passing the hat for payment, not only stretched Post’s talents but also developed his knack for playful give-and-take with audiences. He crafted his signature style during intensive workshops with Tony Montanaro, the legendary performer and teacher who ran Celebration Barn in South Paris, Maine. Post credits Montanaro for “flipping the switch,” helping him see how he could combine his love of character work, movement arts, and improvisation.
And so the antics spun on, in a career spanning fifty years. The sketches that make up Post’s one-man variety show – Post Comedy Theatre – have captivated audiences in all 50 United States as well as in Canada, Serbia, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Turkey, and throughout the Mediterranean. He has appeared on the Today show, and he was invited to perform for children in Beslan, Russia, at the school that had been devastated by a terrorist attack in 2004. An Emmy Award-winning PBS special on his work, “Robert Post – in Performance,” aired internationally and the list of grants and other awards that he’s received is now much longer than his teacher’s listing of maladaptive behaviors.Post juggles – literally (he can keep five balls in the air) and figuratively, balancing his performance schedule with educational programs in schools, master classes, workshops, and stints as a director. He has directed for theatre and dance companies as well as for schools and universities. He has also served as a visionary coach and mentor for individual performers, much as Tony Montanaro helped him find his own vision. His wide ranging travels led to My Pathetic Career, his quirky documentary featuring his life as a solo performer and his encounters with – and bemused observations on – the weird and wonderful byways of American culture.
REVIEWS
Robert Post, Solo Performances
With its dry humor, expert mime, versatile acting, skilled juggling, ventriloquism, splendid timing and keen sense of satire and the absurd, “The Post Man Delivers,” has a sophisticated air about it. The POSTman of the title is Robert Post, who merits a place on anybody’s all-star team of the goofily gifted.
—The New York Times
He’s as riveting as he is eclectic…uproariously funny.
—Bob Mondelo, NPR Radio
…remarkable ability to create characters… a whimsical sense of humor and lyrical style of movement
—Los Angeles Times
inventive…intriguing…off-the-wall dead-on commentary
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
I like him because he’s insane…completely insane.
—TODAY Show
American comic insanity hits Moscow! Robert Post, the American comedian, brought his famous show to Moscow, evoking sweet, childlike emotions from a demanding Russian audience.
—Russia Today
…world-class…a brilliant physical comedian, an intriguing writer and an inventive theatrical mind
—The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The images were ingenious…his comic timing was flawless
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
The comedian, political pundit and man of a thousand disguises… uses body language, masks, music and genius to create a body of work and a host of unforgettable, totally radical characters
—The Tampa Tribune
brilliant, entertaining and believable
—The Cincinnati Enquirer
…a don’t miss show. It’s hard to pick a favorite among the clever pieces because they are all so wonderful.
—The Arizona Republic
The contemporary, the classic and the timeless blend wonderfully… …makes his comic points through time-honored physical dexterity”
—The Village Voice
Robert Post specializes in a witty, bizarre deconstructed vaudeville of stage images the likes of which I feel sure you won’t see again any time soon
—The Edmonton Journal, Alberta
A Bit more info
- Post received the 2017 Performing Arts Prize from The Columbus Foundation for his new multi-media production, “How to Survive Middle School.” In 2020, he and his partner/wife, Jackie Calderone, were honored as Columbus True Originals by the Columbus Foundation.
- Robert Post has created over thirty works for which he has received numerous awards and fellowships from such organizations as the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts, and the Ohio Arts Council (including the Major Fellowship Award), and has received project grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and Ohio Arts Council.
- Robert Post has directed numerous individual performers and companies in a variety of disciplines including theatre, dance, multi-media, hip-hop, spoken word, video, opera, and more. He co-created and co-directed BalletMet’s current Nutcracker with choreographer Gerard Charles. He has also directed theater productions of Noises Off and Urinetown and has served as a visiting artist in theatre at The Ohio State University.