Fear of Heights
Kevin Flynn opens Fear of Heights with Tolstoy’s famous first line from Anna Karenina “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” He promptly reassures the audience “This is not going to be a divorce story.” It isn’t. In eighty entertaining minutes Flynn weaves an affectionate portrait of his multigenerational Irish American family with stories from his career as a stand-up comedian, actor and TV host. From rags to riches to… well, happiness.
Flynn is a born storyteller with a puckish charm and he truly catches fire when he drops into the thick brogue of his four-fingered grandfather “Papoo” (who nicknamed Flynn “Blackjack” for being grandchild number twenty-one). Papoo was an ironworker whom Flynn’s family has long identified in the iconic 1932 photograph Lunch Atop a Skyscraper perched nonchalantly on a steel beam eating his lunch 850 feet above Manhattan. The photo was a staged publicity shot yet to Flynn it represented the stubborn courage of immigrants intent on building an American future.
It also became his burden. At eight years old, Flynn discovered his own paralyzing vertigo and felt he would never live up to his family’s legacy. The question haunted him, how could he possibly admit he was afraid of heights in this family? It’s like “a vampire being afraid of the dark” he jokes, though the shame was real. Flynn moves effortlessly between this humor and raw familial reverence.
At its core, this is a story about a performer weighing ambition against devotion to family, above all to his daughter. At times Flynn edges toward regret, or something close to an apology for being the guy who famously turned down hosting Survivor. Visibly emotional more than once, he reconciles pain, sacrifice, and ego discovering that the fears we harbor longest can become our superpower. For Flynn, it is his gift for connecting with an audience.
The staging is minimal, subtle lighting changes, a few still images, and a hilarious montage of vintage ESPN clips from Flynn’s sportscasting days. He needs little else to convey his message. What lingers is a father’s fearless gratitude and love for his daughter. For the boy who feared he could never measure up to the men on those steel beams, such vulnerability is itself a dizzying act of bravery.
Fear of Heights
Starring: Kevin Flynn
Performed on October 27, 2026
October 19 – November 22, 2026
Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, in Manhattan
Reviewer: Emily B. Lansbury
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