Adam Bradley’s Emotional Is This Thing On? Lights up the Chain

The Philadelphia Fringe Festival treated audiences to Adam Bradley’s dynamic, raw one-person show in a sold-out run earlier this September. Soon afterward, Is This Thing On played to equally enthusiastic crowds at The Chain in New York City.

Bradley wears his heart on his sleeve, inviting us into his world for just over an hour in a performance that is as funny as it is relatable, and as heartbreaking as it is ultimately uplifting. For anyone who has fought to keep artistic dreams alive while struggling to survive in a world that leaves little room for them—in other words, most of us—it is a cathartic experience not to be missed.

Energetic and charming throughout, Bradley nevertheless cuts a solitary figure in the black-box theater, a visual reminder of the losses he has endured and the difficult choices he has made. His acoustic guitar, resting at the side of the stage, becomes the closest thing the play has to a second character. When he turns it to face the wall—surrendering to corporate life and the weight of familial expectations—the gesture is quietly devastating. It feels as though he is turning his back on the love that has always defined him.

The story moves fluidly but non-linearly between pivotal moments in Bradley’s life. We flash back to the evening his parents first allowed the family to watch television during dinner, when a grainy VHS copy of Oliver! sparked the realization that he wanted to perform. We witness his unexpected triumphs at a high school talent show and a Harlem open mic, his determination to build a career as a singer-songwriter, and the many setbacks along the way—including a drunken-driving near-arrest during one of his darkest periods. As the flashing red and blue lights engulf the stage, we feel as panicked as he does.

“I remember looking down,” he recalls. “And feeling so low, I was jealous of the pain. Being a singer/songwriter, trying to make it in the music industry—that wasn’t romantic. It was soul crushing.”

Believing it is time to let go of his dream, Bradley embraces a corporate career and settles into a more conventional life, only to discover that this compromise is the real soul crusher. Ultimately, profound grief becomes the catalyst that awakens him and leads him back to the person he always knew he was meant to be.

Director Padraic Lillis brings Bradley’s story to life with remarkable immediacy, making each pivotal moment feel as though it is unfolding before us in real time.

Although Is This Thing On? is filled with genuine pathos, Bradley wisely balances the emotional weight with moments of laugh-out-loud humor. These scenes resonate just as deeply because they capture those painfully familiar situations when life becomes so overwhelming that laughter is the only possible response.

Bradley also treats the audience to two Billy Joel ballads on keyboard—”Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” and “She’s Got a Way”—both beautifully suited to his rich, expressive voice, before picking up the guitar for several heartfelt original songs.

By the time the lights come up, you feel as though you’ve truly come to know Bradley. And for those whose lives have followed similar winding paths, Is This Thing On? offers something even more meaningful: the chance to better understand ourselves.

“I got a million choices and a thousand voices and treasure. What about all the things that I will not remember? The Temperature is 73, but you’re so cold. I don’t know how, I don’t know when. But I’ll see you down the road.”

Learn more about Adam and Is This Thing On? at https://www.adambradleystudio