The Village voice, in its rundown of the Fringe, had this to say about BUKOWSICAL:
And Somewhere Men Are Laughing proved less palatable. Though it had garnered a full production in L.A., Jeff Mandel's script seemed sadly amateurish, if heartfelt. Set in 1950s Brooklyn, it features a Jewish family collapsing even as their beloved Dodgers triumph. Heavy on the exposition, clunky in its tonal shifts, it lasted more than two hours, echoing a character's cry, "Oh, God. Why? Why?" Bukowsical!, another L.A. success, raised similar queries, especially for anyone who's seen the similar Gutenberg! The Musical! Also structured as a backer's audition for "the next great musical experience," Bukowsical! adapts the booze-fueled ramblings of Charles Bukowski. The title number opens: "What's the feeling you get/When you're down on your luck/And you're too drunk to fuck/Bukowsical!" Reasonably clever, but it hits those same crass notes again and again, lending the whole production a tone of unintended alcoholic stupor.