Alan began sharing his tales of growing up hearing in a Deaf family more than 20 years ago at CODA International conferences and gatherings and decided to take his show on the road in 2004. Since then, he has toured the United States with his critically acclaimed, one-man show, “The Abababa Road Tour” chronicling his experiences growing up hearing in a Deaf family. ABABABA–a name given to him by a dear friend, Bonnie Kraft who could not pronounce Abarbanell–is a proud coda (Child of Deaf Adults) and member of CODA International (www.coda-international.org) Alan wrote this show as a loving tribute to his Deaf heritage and coda family. Each performance is dedicated to Alan’s parents Joe* and Yetta* Abarbanell whom he credits with his sense of humor, creativity and love for his community, and to his brothers Denny*, Marv* and Steve who taught him strength of character by locking him out of the house naked in the middle of a snow storm at age 12.
Abababa’s performances take his audiences on a rollercoaster ride of emotion; first pulling them through the hilarious rush and shocking twists of his youth, then plunging them into the tragedy and loss that followed, only to hurl them upwards towards uncontrollable laughter once again! With the simple wave of a hand, Abababa renders each audience exhausted from gales of laughter and torrents of tears by evening’s end.
Alan is a veteran sign language interpreter originally from Chicago who, in addition to his 25 years of freelance work lectures nationally on the issues of interpreter ethics and coda family issues. Alan is a bachelor living in Germantown, Maryland and is very proud to be Operations Manager for the Communication Solutions Department of TCS Associates (www.TCSassociates.com) a Deaf/Woman owned business providing total accessibility solutions for persons with disabilities working in government and the private sector. Alan has two Black Lab (mix) rescue dogs, Shana and Levi who have finally trained Alan to come when called, how to give paw and not to jump on visitors.
In January of 2011 after being told by his doctor that his cholesterol and triglycerides were dangerously high, Alan chose a healthier lifestyle, changed his eating habits, began exercising, bike riding and walking and dropped 30 lbs and brought his cholesterol and triglyceride levels all well under normal levels within 8 weeks–meaning many more years of Abababa antics to come!
Alan has three children whom he cherishes more than anything, Erinn (21) Rachel (20) and Jacob (15) who have formed their own organization known as COED which stands for Children of Embarrassing Dads.
*(Deceased)
