No question about it, Ricky Ritzel IS Hysterical Blondness! Well known to New York audiences, with his Andy Warhol-esque do, a cocktail and a tale to tell, the ubiquitous Mr. Ritzel is a throwback to the raconteur of old. He’ll woo you with a song, wow you with tales of old Hollywood and the clubs of long ago, then break out in laughter that takes us all along for the ride.

And what a ride it is! Beginning with, what else, Judy Garland’s overture. Why not? Considering most of Ritzel’s stories are about his life and the stars he’s worked with (Ruth Warrick, Vivian Blaine, Julie Wilson), loved (Ethel Merman, Tallulah, Bette Davis) and been (Jimmy Durante), who better to lead the way than Garland?

In between the tales told are musical segues (with him at the piano), leading us from his growing up, brief marriage (a church wedding on Yom Kippur to a Jewish girl, no less), encounters with and dish about Hollywood and its stars to a face-off with a wayward alligator.

From Warren & Mercer’s “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby” to Rick Crom’s clever “Older Than, Younger Than” to the hilarious “The Butler’s Song” by Stan Daniels (“he’s screwing Dolores DelRio”) to his own “The Advice Song,” The multi-award winning Ritzel is one of those entertainers you love to watch and hang on every word. Did some of the references fall on too-young ears? Perhaps, but then Ritzel laughs at his own stories and we laugh right along with him. Like they say in the restaurant business, “It’s all in the presentation, my dear!”

Hysterical Blondness, directed by Jim Luzar and written by Ritzel and Luzar, has two more performances at Metropolitan Room: Thursday, December 10^th and Wednesday, December 16^th. Both shows are at 9:45pm.