The Z Space Studio - www.zspace.org

Josh Kornbluth’s show offers the lighter side of ‘Love & Taxes’ - By Sasha Paulsen, Register Review Saturday, July 10, 2004.
" Richly witty and warmly ironic, Kornbluth’s story is probably one only he could tell, complete with his eye-rolling, hair-pulling antics; but it’s also everyman’s tale – the little guy in a maze of civilization, yearning inescapably for some of the benefits…"

Love and Taxes - By Marcus Crowder. The Sacramento Bee, Tuesday, April 26, 2005.
" He gives voice to numerous characters besides himself, but it’s more impersonation than inhabiting. We view them all through his generous but also satiric observations, which poke fun at everybody – especially himself. . . Kornbluth’s resourceful storytelling, masterful comic timing and peripatetic energy are undeniable."

In Praise of Taxes - By Misha Berson, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Thursday, March 24, 2005.
“A sweet-faced, pear-shaped performer with the look of a young Zero Mostel and the comic imagination of a shrewd urban pixie….”

Taxing Problems Provide Inspiration for Solo Comedy - Marin Scope, Mill Valley Herald, Twin Cities Times, Ross Valley Reporter, San Rafael News Pointer, August 3 – August 9, 2004
"Josh Kornbluth is a father and a husband, but also an irreverent, outspoken observer of the chaotic and under-examined aspects of modernity. . . . He might not yet be a household name, but his popular Bay Area performances have him on the verge of fame."

"One of the Year's 10 Best!" (2003)
SF Chronicle and The Contra Costa Times.

A Crazed Comic Take Stock, Kisses His Assets Goodbye - Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle, Monday, June 30, 2003.
"Josh Kornbluth isn't a loser but he plays one to hilarious effect... Developed by Kornbluth with Z Space founding Artistic Director David Dower, who staged the show, Love & Taxes is a dizzying maelstrom of tax problems that offers food for thought and a touching little love story as well."

Love & Taxes - Jason Zinoman, New York Times Sunday, December 14, 2003.
"In previous autobiographical solo shows, Josh Kornbluth expressed anxieties about growing up with Communist parents ("Red Diaper Baby") and flunking calculus at Princeton University ("The Mathematics of Change"). But the subject of his latest show, "Josh Kornbluth's Love & Taxes," which opened last week at the Bank Street Theater, inspires a more universal neurosis - the I.R.S. Mr. Kornbluth, who wrote the monologue with his director, David Dower, performs what could be described as a tax nightmare. After not paying the government for seven years, he amassed a $27,000 debt that ballooned to $80,000 because of penalties, interest payments and an expensive bill from a holistic tax attorney/therapist. This excerpt is taken from the beginning of the show, when Mr. Kornbluth describes his job at the time, working, ironically, for a tax attorney."

Translating a Taxing Tale Into Masterful Monologue - June Bell, Forward Friday, November 21, 2003.
"A balding, middle-aged guy standing alone on a stage describing his financial troubles with two hefty volumes of the U.S. Tax Code as his only props doesn't sound like a scintillating night at the theater. Yet Josh Kornbluth manages to weave his woes into an engrossing and humorous tale of redemption. Love & Taxes, Kornbluth's one-man show based on his own experiences, chronicles how the erstwhile office temp fell in love while spiraling into a terrifying five-figure tax debt. Following its San Francisco premiere, "Love & Taxes" begins a run at New York City's Bank Street Theater on December 4. "

Kornbluth Returns with Comic Look at Love & Taxes - Andy Probst, American Theater Web, Tuesday, December 9, 2003
"A REMARKABLY FULL EVENING OF COMIC THEATER...It's a rich comic brew that Kornbluth steeps with his unique brand of self-amusement and deprecation...Kornbluth's rich writing is well-served by David Dower's direction which gracefully moves the story forward to Kornbluth's ultimate epiphany about and redemption from his tax problem. "

Pain in the Wallet, Arrow in the Heart - AOL Digital Cities, Tuesday, December 9, 2003.
"Anyone who has ever wrestled with the long arm of the Internal Revenue Service may find kinship -- and a generous helping of laughter -- in Josh Kornbluth's newest work, Love and Taxes."

The Taxman Cometh - Barbara & Scott Siegel - theatermania.com, Thursday, December 11, 2003.
"Having grown up as the son of a communist (see Red Diaper Baby), Kornbluth did not give the U.S. government much credence. Failing to file tax returns for seven years, he found himself in serious trouble. Kornbluth sets his love story amidst mounting interest and penalties, with a tax advisor grabbing his greatest asset: his art. Meanwhile, his girlfriend won't marry him as long as the government is holding a sword over his financial head. And a clock begins to tick over all of this travail when Josh's girlfriend gets pregnant. Kornbluth tells his story in a genial, self-mocking style. He's a very likeable guy, which helps him when his script goes through a dry patch on its way to an oasis of laughter. Happily, he finds comic watering holes often...Above all, he is endearing and natural on stage. Kornbluth's story is as funny as it is poignant, because not only must he face the taxman, he must also come to terms with his late father's teachings. This show is by no means a taxing experience. "

An Unlikely and Refreshing Delight - Kessa De Santis - Electronic Link, Wednesday, December 11, 2003.
"Whatever the intangibles of the IRS code and the fickle soul of love, they come together in both comic and realist splendor here."

Steven Winn's piece about Love & Taxes , in the San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday, September 2, 2003.
Josh Kornbluth works a neat, mind-teasing little twist on the autobiographical monologue form in "Love & Taxes."

Josh Kornbluth Grows Up: And That Even Means Paying his Taxes. - Lisa Drostova, East Bay Express, September 3-9, 2003.
"...Kornbluth allows audiences who go for intelligent comedy that blends hilarious self-examination with wry insight into the state of American politics, and tales of the vagaries of love between proudly neurotic people, to rejoice and throw off the chains of their mindless Hollywood oppression. The man who found a way to turn failing a Princeton math class and forgetting to mail 85 important letters for his lawyer boss into off-Broadway fame and a couple of independent films is back with his most polished and far-reaching work yet, the stunningly funny Love and Taxes."

Accounted For : Josh Kornbluth Leaves Us Helpless with Laughter and Pleasantly Lost - Michael Scott Moore, San Francsico Weekly, July 9, 2003.
"...John Cheever wrote a self-deprecating introduction to his collected stories that reminds me of Kornbluth's show. Storytellers tend to be open books, he argues; they can't hide their flaws or their lack of sophistication. Kornbluth understands this contention and plays with it. He seems to agree with Cheever that any honest accounting of a writer's early work "will be a naked history of one's struggle to receive an education in economics and love." In Kornbluth's case, though, it's also screamingly funny."

Comic Gold- 'Taxes' makes the best of a bad situation - Pat Craig, Contra Costa Times, Monday, June 30, 2003.
"Love and Taxes" is a thoroughly engaging and satisfying evening of theater that gives this Bay Area treasure a chance to shine brightly...wonderful work that is not to be missed."

Fiscal Farce: Left-wing Artist Creates Fiscal Farce of IRS Encounter - Karen D'Souza, SJ Mercury News, Wednesday, March 3, 2004.
"...it's not everyone who can turn revenue rulings and amended filings into the stuff of laughter. So if you want to find out how Kornbluth gets out from under a crushing pile of debt while staying true to his revolutionary values, you'll have to pull up a chair at this fiscal tour-de-force."

Kornbluth's Latest Monologue - Chad Jones, Oakland Tribune
"ALTHOUGH Josh Kornbluth's enjoyable new monologue, "Love & Taxes," is a comedy, parts of it are as scary as any horror movie. Ever the good-natured chatterbox, Kornbluth rambles on about his past and his family. Then he starts talking about taxes, and before you know it, your chest constricts, your breathing becomes shallow, your pulse races and a scream begins forming in the back of your throat. When Kornbluth reveals that he once owed more than $27,000 in income taxes, it's all you can do to not run shrieking from San Francisco's Magic Theatre. Perhaps no monster is more frightening than the Internal Revenue Service, and Kornbluth's story demonstrates exactly why that's true."

'Love & Taxes' Through August 3rd: In The Red - Anna Mantzaris, special to SF Gate
April 15 is not a date most folks look forward to, unless they have stock in Turbotax. For a while, writer/performer Josh Kornbluth was the exception. After seven years of not filing his taxes, he relished his newfound position "in the system," not to mention those juicy little refunds he was entitled to after signing on the dotted line. This was before things got out of hand with a tax attorney, Hollywood called and he met a striking woman who couldn't make left-hand turns. Kornbluth, who adapted his popular performances at San Francisco's the Marsh into the Sundance hit film "Haiku Tunnel" with his brother Jacob, tells his story of how he went from black to red with the IRS in a compelling monologue. Directed by collaborator David Dower for the Z Space Studio, Kornbluth's performance doesn't rely merely on its fierce humor, but delves deeper as he reflects on his Communist father, living the life of an artist, falling in love with a fellow neurotic and a friendship that changed his life. Kornbluth is beyond endearing and one of the hardest-working performers around -- you definitely owe it to yourself to see this one.

Josh Kornbluth: A Natural Raconteur - Suzanne Weiss, Culture Vulture
"If Josh Kornbluth weren't so darn funny you might weep. For those who have yet to see the popular Bay Area performer, close your eyes and imagine a seriously balding Jewish Spalding Gray. Now conjure up an image of a younger Woody Allen - only more neurotic, if such a thing is possible. Mix them together and you begin to get the picture..."