However, while there can be exciting and hilarious comedic discoveries, there can also be unmitigated disasters. Such was the case at Big Al’s Comedy Club at the Orleans. Well, let me be more specific, the “real” comics were good, but the MC/Host was a disaster. I felt sorry for the comedians following the MC given how he simply took the life and energy out of the room.
Both Jeff Richards and The Greg Wilson were funny. I thought Jeff Richards particularly uproarious, though the audience seemed mixed. His routine is odd, to say the least. Long, awkward pauses throughout the routine, which added to the comedy, I thought. His best stuff was his physical comedy—he is willing to go where many comics won’t. To wit, his Momma Butt skit was funny, gross and uncomfortable—all good things for comedy. Yanking his pants to his chest nipples and inviting he audience to notice his male camel toe is brave to say the least—and to me, fucking funny shit. He also does a great Louie Anderson impression.
The Greg Wilson was funny, but his show funniest moment occurred right way in his act. The MC totally blew the introduction and The Greg Wilson proceeded to skewer, eviscerate and demolish the MC’s introduction and more generally the MC. That was funny.
The irony is that the MC/Host was receives top billing on the flyer—one Kato Kaelin of O.J. Simpson’s guesthouse fame. Yes, that guy. He is now trying, I stress trying, to be a comedian. He was, to put it mildly, an unmitigated disaster. Truly terrible.
Now he has a few jokes that were amusing, but his delivery was off. The timing destroying several jokes, but that perhaps could be overlooked. It is not easy to get up on stage and make strangers laugh, I’d imagine. But the element of his routine that I won’t give a pass to is his “audience participation” part.
Many comedians riff off the audience to generate jokes. Vinnie Favorito does this to mild success. I have seen him twice and once is enough. A much better but lesser known comedian who does the same thing is Joe Lowers at the Alexis hotel next to the Hard Rock. Of course, few know about this show given its off-the-Strip location. For my money, he is the best “fucking-with-the-audience” comic in Vegas. Kato Kaelin is the worst one I have seen.
The conceit of interacting and embarrassing the audience as part of a comedian's routine is that it’s not personal and funny. Kaelin violates both these precepts. His interaction with the audience often began with the general statement: “What’s your story?” This seems to me a poor way to begin. The questions needs to be far more specific. What’s your story? How is someone in the audience supposed to answer? No one is going to respond. The question needs to be specific, like what do you do for a living or as Joe Lowers asked me “what kind of porn do you like?” A loaded question to be sure.
After asking his general question, Kaelin stares at the person waiting for, I suppose, a long monologue outlining his story. The key to making this work is the comic’s ability to think on his feet and come up with something funny. Kaelin did not display this extemporaneous comedic ability whatsoever. This is one example of what he thought was funny:
Kaelin: Hey, is that a tattoo on your leg?
Lady in the front row: Yes
Kaelin: That looks like a scab?
Audience: Crickets chirping, thinking that was mean and not funny.
Thus was his routine. He merely insulted and alienated the audience. If he intends to do that, he had better damn well be funny. Instead, he was an unmitigated, unfunny disaster. But go for The Gregg Wilson Show and Jeff Richards, though with Richards be prepared to look at a fat man’s camel toe. It sounds easy to look away, but truly it is not.
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