Ant Highlights Queer Comedy Night
There was a time in which stand up comedians relied heavily on punch-lines, one after another, non-stop. In the heyday of such greats as Johnny Carson and Joan Rivers, this was the shtick - the more punch lines, the better.
Modern day stand-up comedy, by contrast, is very story oriented. It seems that punch-line heavy comedy has become outdated, almost, and a contemporary audience enjoys a complicated, hysterically woven tale, by the likes of such modern-day heavyweights as Kathy Griffin or Ellen Degeneres. Degeneres in particular is a genius at this, with one of her stand-up shows being just one long series of tangents revolving around her penchant for procrastinating.
Saturday's pre-pride comedy festival, Three Jokers, had three different comedians who represented three distinct moments in stand-up. All three had been finalists of the reality show Last Comic Standing, and, interestingly, two of the comediennes seemed to borrow heavily from the old, punch-line era of stand up comedy. There were numerous jokes in the classic style of "my husband is so fat...how fat is he?" type. Unfortunately, these two comediennes didn't quite understand that there's a reason that era is a bygone one.
Certainly, the venue didn't help the talent. Held at the War Memorial Auditorium with seating either on raised bleachers in the back or folding chairs in the front, it felt like a high school pep rally, except this pep rally had ticket prices ranging from $25 to $50. With so many empty seats, and so many audience members leaving often for refreshments, it may have made more sense for the promoters to have changed the location to some type of bar or restaurant, where typical stand-up takes place.
Worse was the sound system; its glitches were amplified during the first act. After the MC embarrassingly sang some old-school ballad (perhaps the unintentionally funniest moment of the night), our first comedienne took the stage: Jessica Kirson. Her stand-up was a mixture of observational (Jerry Seinfeld-esque) humor tinged with an early 1990's dysfunctional "black-wearing" New Yorker style. She talked often about how overweight she was, and depressingly pointed out audience members who weren't laughing (My friends and I included). Loud, aggravating screeches into the already loud sound system made her seem like a Jewish, lesbian Sam Kinison on crack (and considering how many drugs Kinison did, that's really saying something).
Up next was the belle of the ball, Ant, the most famous of the three (hosting both Last Comic Standing and Celebrity Fit Club). His comedy was, from the beginning, already at a different echelon than Kirson (or the one to follow, Michelle Balin). Unlike the other two, Ant understood the balance of time and flow that creates a beautiful stand-up act. His routine was certainly contemporary, heavy on nicely etched out stories and numerous moments of audience interaction. His last bit, on the duties of a flight attendant during a crash was a beautiful, hysterical highlight, certainly among one of the finest pieces of stand-up I'd seen in some time.
After a long intermission there was Michelle Balin, who could only be described as Joan Rivers' long-lost lesbian sister. It was non-stop Boca Raton country-club jokes, one after another. The audience was in stitches, yet this could have been from the numerous beers I spied around me.
Although Three Jokers may have been an interesting kick start to Pridefest, the comediennes on stage could have learned a thing or two from Ant and his manic, queer yet mainstream humor. He did the gay man proud, being daring, sexual, and intelligent on stage all at the same time. After the long three hours, my friends and I decided that maybe a night of just Ant would have been best, and the two female jokesters could have folded early.