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Boston Herald September 13, 2000:
"Equally funny is "Anne Frank Superstar," Salkind's hilarious satire of a television industry that will go to any length for commercial success, even trivializing one of the most famous victims of the holocaust.
Salkind imagines what would happen if the story of Anne Frank were to be developed as a sitcom, titled "Let's Be Frank!" Recalling Tracey Ullman in her range, Salkind portrays eight characters (including a precocious 11-year-old girl around whom the series is developed, a British producer and a deaf stand-up comic). And she does so with a brashness that likely would offend the more politically correct.
This, though, is a striking satirical piece that skewers the tasteless limits of today's television and, with further development, likely will turn up as a special on one of the more cutting edge cable networks."
Bay Windows October 5-11 2000:
"Betsy Salkind somehow manages to be simultaneously insidious and forthright in her one-woman show titled "Anne Frank Superstar." Salkind is 11-year-old Ethel Spiliotes, who has the great misfortune of being cast as Anne Frank in a new network sitcom about the WWII hideaway and famous diarist.
In what starts off as a very polished stand-up routine, Salkind warns that the show is going to have Holocaust humor. At first, audience heads turned side to side to make sure others were laughing. They were. What Salkind doesn't say right off is that the show is going to filled with all sorts of one-liners that, in this politically correct society, really shouldn't be funny. But funny they are.
There are many characters in the show and Salkind plays them all as she retells the story of her Hollywood break gone terribly, terribly awry. From conception to table read to script revisions, it's abundantly clear that the Anne Frank sitcom idea is a bad one. But the choices made along the way in attempt to make the show more palatable for national television are ridiculously appalling. One of the best "changes" is to drop all references to Nazis and instead use the word "squirrels."
Salkind flies through the material flawlessly, making smooth transitions from one wild character to another. During the September 8th performance, there were a couple of technical miscues that left Salkind without the light she was expecting. Her comic timing and ability to improvise allowed her to make the necessary adjustments in order to keep the show going at its energetic pace.
The final scene of "Anne Frank Superstar" is an unexpected one. It's similar to when filmmakers add an extra scene after movie credits to reward ticket buyers who sit all the way through the rolling names. In this case, however, Salkind's bonus tidbit is tucked neatly within the performance. It is a recreation of her audition for "Show Squirrels," the network sitcom that somehow did make it on the air. If you haven't seen Salkind's bit before, you may never look at the little creatures the same way again."
In Newsweekly Sept. 27, 2000
"Much sharper focus, intelligence and wit are apparent in "Anne Frank Superstar," in which a 10-year-old girl (Betsy Salkind) is exploited by TV executives for a sitcom (yes, a sitcom) based on Anne Frank's diaries. Salkind, a TV veteran who has written for "Roseanne," aims to expose the banal stupidity of those running the business. When executives become skittish at the thought of the show becoming controversial, their brilliant idea is to add a deaf cast member because "handicapped is in." If she tends to rely too much on bathroom humor, you're willing to forgive her because you can see she is an intelligent performer who has much more in mind. She has constructed a sharp, insightful satire, and delivers a wicked performance. Don't be surprised if "Must-see TV" executives buy the rights to this piece, just so they can make sure you'll never see it."
OTHER PRESS:
Bay Guardian June 23-29, 2004
Heavens to Betsy
Local comedy writer and stand-up comedian Betsy Salkind is a novel dose of funny on the national stage.
By Larry Roberts
STAND-UP comedy? Forget the usual stereotypes. Betsy Salkind is an articulate comedy writer with the talent for a well-crafted line, and she can put an audience in hysterics without uttering a word. This local girl has appeared on Comedy Central, HBO, and The Tonight Show , served as a staff writer for Roseanne, and appeared on numerous comic stages throughout the United States. But what her audience wants is "Squirrel!" her best-loved and most memorable animal impression, a piece of stage shtick not seen since the days of vaudeville. "I love to work in silence, which is not traditional stand-up," she says. But while Salkind may be silent, the audience certainly isn't.
(for the rest of this article see the link below)
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