CONCERT REVIEW
New York comedians tickle the crowd at the Studio
by Seth Rogovoy(PITTSFIELD, Mass., Feb. 15, 1997) -- It was catch-a-rising-star both figuratively and literally on Friday night at the Studio, as eight, up-and-coming comedians kept an audience of nearly a thousand in stitches over the course of a three-hour program of state-of-the-art, New York club-style standup comedy.
This was no amateur night. The Valentine's Day program, which attracted one of the largest crowds so far at the new entertainment venue in the former England Brothers, included several comics who have already made it to cable- and network-TV comedy shows. And judging by their acts and the crowd's response on Friday night, at least three of them seem ready to host their own comedy specials -- the next step along the way to comedy stardom and the ranks of the Seinfelds, Crystals and Lenos.
Over the course of the long evening, which gave customers a good hour more than their money's worth, the audience was treated to a variety of different comedic styles and material, ranging from traditional one-liners to more experimental, "character" comedy.
The star of the evening was Kevin Downey Jr., who played his whole set in character as a sort of loser teetering on the brink of a mental breakdown. He borrowed a yelping delivery from Bobcat Goldthwaite and an absurdist point of view from Steven Wright. "I have a Dalmatian named G-spot....I can't find him," he mused. "My girlfriend is pro-life. She thinks I should get one," was another example of his self-abnegating shtick.
Close behind Downey in impact were Ian Bag and Tom Papa. Though Bag's character wasn't drawn as extreme as Downey's, his was equally anarchic, jumping from topic to topic with wild abandon, from nosehairs to New York to the unique proportions of his genitalia. Papa was also hyperactive, focusing his attention on contemporary mores and practices, contrasting his typical suburban upbringing with today's super-sophisticated style of parenting. He also did a great routine about contemporary hippies, which devolved into a riotously rendered, pro-cannabis speech by Thomas Jefferson.
The weaker acts of the evening were only weak in relation to these three. In any other setting, they would have been considered top- notch club performers. Downey's brother Pat did a laid-back, genial routine focusing on emergency rooms, doctors, marriage and parenting anxieties. Anthony Spinner, holding down the tough, after- intermission slot, was an energetic presence with jokes about school and Chia pets. By the time Ted Alexandro took the stage around midnight, the audience was pretty much laughed out, but he held their attention with jokes about dogs, the single life and masturbation.
David Cooperman, the hometown hero and son of Studio founder Mort Cooperman, faced down the skeptics from the outset. "My dad owns this place....Now you know how I got this gig," is how he began his mild set of self-deprecating one-liners.
In addition to his opening set of aggressive audience improvisations, Ron Smith acted as the evening's emcee. He handled the crowd with nimble athleticism, and made good, comic hay out of the fact that the show was being simulcast over radio station Live 105 (WBEC).
The biggest flaw in the evening was the total absence of the female point of view. Surely in the wake of Roseanne Barr, Paula Poundstone and Rosie O'Donnell there are at least a few, good, up-and-coming female comics on the scene?
The biggest trend of the evening, if one could draw conclusions from this cross-section of New York comics, was the preponderance of Catholic humor. Roman Catholics, apparently, are now turning their barbed wit against their own religion and culture in much the same way that generations of blacks and Jews did before them.
[This review originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Feb. 17, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
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