Symphony for the Devil: Comedy Central Live
We treated ourselves to an evening of comedy last night, traveling to Baltimore’s Meyerhoff Symphony Hall for the Comedy Central Live Tour. I think it’s safe to say that it was a night that the Hall won’t soon forget.
New comer Mike Birbiglia (aka ‘Cracka please!’) opened the show and was clearly the straightest of the night’s offerings. His most outlandish bit had to do with the prospect of his cats being gay—not really gay, mind you, but "prison" gay. His explanation amusingly made some kind of sense. And he was the only one geeky enough to point out the Symphony Hall’s uncanny resemblence to the Intergalactic Senate in Star Wars: Episode Three.
Hippy edged Mitch Hedberg was the remedial second and threw at least one surprise by successfully hiding from the spotlight operater. He proceeded jokes a full three minutes from behind the curtain, leaving everyone guessing if it was part of the act or the misguidance of his drug-addled persona.
As expected the favorite loser of the bunch Dave Attell stole the show. He opened with a topical line, “Folks, if I’m attacked up here by a tiger tonight, be aware that it’s NOT part of the act.” From there his material continued a steady flow of raunch, giving full comedic pause to his toilet-enduced hernia and ending with a complete verbal description of his favorite activity—masturbation. When an audience member shouted out for him to demonstrate, Dave quickly invited the man’s wife on stage for a… well, up close and personal encounter. There were no heckles left hanging.
Funny man Lewis Black ended with his usual had-it-up-to-here shtick. Returning to his Baltimore hometown, the night was clearly intended for him. Even his parents were present, which possibly inspired his closing instruction for us not to complain about the persistent swearing during the sets, at least until we got to our cars.
But in the end, there were no complaints to even think about holding back. It was a memorable night of humor in an unexpected setting.
