TAKE MY HUSBAND, PLEASE

Marriage has long been fodder for male stand-up comics, but it has generally been women who have been the butt of the jokes. Actress, comic, and TV personality Joy Behar offers a refreshing alternative to that tired trope with My First Ex-Husband, which has made its journey from Off-Broadway to The Huntington at Calderwood Pavilion.

Joy Behar (photo by Joan Marcus)

Although billed as a comedy, My First Ex-Husband is actually a series of eight one-woman shows. Using scripts Behar based on interviews she conducted with real women, Behar, along with acclaimed performers Veanne Cox, Judy Gold, and Tonya Pinkins take turns at the mic to present dramatic portrayals of the marriages to men portrayed as the husbands-from-hell, each one unique, offering a kind of corollary to Tolstoy’s famous dictum about unhappy families each being unhappy in its own way. Though Tolstoy, not terribly enlightened on the subject of women, certainly wouldn’t have said it, Behar’s production, directed by Randal Myler, is an object lesson in the idea that horrible husbands are each horrible in their own way.

Judy Gold (photo by Danny Bristoll)

Ranging from the obvious—adultery—but with an organ donation twist, to the cruel and bizarre, such as demands that a marriage partner take part in extreme sports or rely on cats rather than central heating for winter warmth—each of the eight skits offers insight into just how awful a husband can be and the mysteries of just how much misery some women will tolerate.

Tonya Pinkins (photo by Danny Bristoll)

Although the scripts aren’t perfect and there were a few hiccups in the timing of the deliveries on opening night, the stories are rich in laughs, and some of them—such as “Where Are You At,” delivered with verve and punch by Pinkins—are extremely well-constructed. There were a few points when I wondered about sitting through 90 minutes of complaints about bad marriages, and I wasn’t completely comfortable with the notion of cross-dressing as grounds for divorce, but hey, it was a good break from listening to news about political violence, and Behar managed to throw in a few jokes about Republicans and fascists that won enthusiastic applause.

Jackie Hoffman (photo courtesy of Huntington)

My First Ex-Husband
Huntington Theatre Company
The Huntington at Calderwood Pavilion, BCA, 527 Tremont St. in Boston
ends on September 28, 2025
for tickets, call 617-266-0800 or visit Huntington

for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston