By Christina Carrick
Karen Knotts’ one-woman show, Tied up in Knotts, at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah proves she is a woman who wears many hats. Knotts, the daughter of legendary actor Don Knotts, presents a show that is an intermix of biography, nostalgic reminiscence, and her own personal journey. She showcases her own natural knack for comedy while paying tribute to her father and reminding us all that “the laughter goes on.”
Don Knotts began his career as a ventriloquist. In a nod to his professional beginnings, Tied Up in Knotts opens with the very talented Kerry Summers. Summers displays a wide range of vocal and comedic talent. His act is fresh and utilizes uncommon and creative avenues for performing ventriloquism. The highlight is his ability to interact with the audience and use select audience members as his dummies up on stage. The audience was delightfully surprised by his antics and laughing out loud throughout his set. He is a terrific opening act but would be worthwhile to see as an independent performer as well.
Knotts tells her father’s story chronologically, beginning from his very humble beginnings all the way through to his major Hollywood success. Though many of us will always remember him most as the endearing Barney Fife, she proves Mayberry was really just a small town in Don Knotts’ very large life.
Knotts describes herself as having been a shy and insecure teenager, but she carries the show with masterful storytelling and a real talent for impressions. She takes audiences behind the scenes in Mayberry and into the home life of a true celebrity. She doesn’t entirely gloss over the less glamorous moments of her family’s story, acknowledging her parents’ divorce and her father’s neuroses. Ultimately, however, she demonstrates how he was a doting and devoted father who often reminded her when she was in doubt to smile, and that a good joke could get her through anything.
The stage is set simply with two kitchen chairs and a couple hat racks filled with hats and wigs used during Knotts’ various impressions. Behind her is a large screen that she uses to play clips from her father’s vast library of comedic material as well as personal and family photographs. The show comes across like an entertaining, two-hour behind the scenes exposé of the Knotts family and a “Where are they now?” of Karen herself. The lighting, sound, and set at the Covey Center leant itself perfectly to display this one-woman show.
Karen’s quest to keep her father’s memory alive and relevant is sincerely moving. Her own personal narrative of struggling to fit in and find her own passion is also inspiring and a reminder to us all that we don’t need a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to have a story worth telling. Ultimately, this show is about family and that hers is a family tied up in knotts, and that’s plural, not possessive.
The Covey Center in Provo presents Tied Up in Knotts by Karen Knotts.
Covey Center, 425 W Center St Provo, UT 84601
March 25, 2019, 7:00 PM
Tickets: $15-$18
Contact: 801-852-7007
Tied Up in Knotts Facebook Event
Covey Center for the Arts Facebook Page
Tied Up in Knotts Facebook Page
Covey Center https://www.provo.org/community/covey-center-for-the-arts
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