(Updated 8/3/2022) Description and review of Jack Gallagher’s one-man show, Concussed: Four Days in the Dark.
Jack Gallagher, playwright and actor, is currently performing a one-man show at the B Street Theatre – Concussed: Four Days in the Dark. A group of friends and I attended B Street this past weekend – and we all thoroughly enjoyed the show.
The show runs through April 16 – so you still have time to catch Jack in Concussed before the final performance.
In Concussed Jack discusses the aftereffects of a concussion he suffered in 2014 when he was hit by a car when bicycling on his way back to his Sacramento Land Park home after an extended ride.
He landed on the windshield of the car, and then fell to the ground. Nothing was broken, and he made his way home on his bike after insisting that he was OK and that he did not need medical help.
But he was not OK.
SacramentoRevealed.com – All Things Sacramento (from a personal perspective)
Jack suffered severe migraine headaches and had trouble thinking and remembering things. He did not remember how he got home after the accident – but his bike was there so he figured he rode it home. That is understandable – he was in shock.
Additional scary lapses in memory afterwards along with other difficulties finally convinced him that something was really wrong – and he finally went to the emergency room.
The doctor diagnosed a concussion and ordered four days of complete rest – no light, no reading, no music, no “screens”, no distractions of any kind. Just rest.
So, Jack had nothing to do – except think. And think he did – for four days. He thought about his family (wife Jean Ellen and sons Declan and Liam) and extended family, his career and the potential impact of his injury on his career going forward, his relationships, things he could have done, things he should have done, etc. He also had plenty of time to contemplate getting older – and to face his mortality.
Jack has had many accomplishments in his career – including three Emmy awards. Jack is also one of Sacramento’s favorite entertainers. I have enjoyed the opportunity to see several of the plays he has authored – and performed. He had us all laughing the other night – but Concussed is definitely one of his most, if not the most, serious works to date.
The audience was readily able to relate to the various hopes and fears he expressed, and to appreciate how he has managed to cope during his recovery – he is still not 100%.
Jack also shared stories about how he is now trying to take advantage of opportunities – such as enjoying spending time with each son during two separate cross-country road trips. And, after years of thinking about it – he and his wife finally bought a home on Cape Cod near family (where they have vacationed for a month every year for over 30 years).
After all, you only have one life to live.
I think that many of us, as we left that evening, took home some life lessons with intent to implement them. Thanks, Jack!
Note: I am deliberately not going into any great detail about many of the specifics Jack shared – this is his story. I recommend you go see Concussed: Four Days in the Dark.
See related blog post: Jack Gallagher Rocks!
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